DAYS 5+6: Exploring New Zealand's Southern Coast

Evening Coastal Drive: 📍 Kaka Point Big waves, lots of foreigners surfing 🏄🏻‍♀️. Scenery was just okay—nothing spectacular. 📍 Nugget Point Hiked 1km to the lighthouse 🏮. The view was endless and wild, but the wind was crazy! 🌪️ Could be amazing at sunset, but too many clouds that day. South Island travel = weather roulette! 📍 Slope Point (Southernmost Tip) Skipped it—looked similar to other spots. Drove straight to Invercargill instead. Long drive alert! 🚗💨 Day 2: The Great Paua (Abalone) Hunt! 🐚🔪 Went to the local fisheries office for a paua knife—got directed to a nearby hunting & fishing store 🏪. Turns out, it wasn’t free—$17.99 NZD! 💸 (Could’ve bought one at 4 Square for ~$14... suspicious? @NZTourism, is this a new "official" tourist trap?) Invercargill Exploration: Town center? Meh. 😐 Oreti Beach 🚗🏖️—the only beach where you can drive right onto the sand! (Do locals actually do this?) Bluff Detour: Planned to eat at Fowler's Wild Bluff Oysters 🦪—closed! But the area was scenic, great for photos (and train tracks 🛤️). Stirling Point 📍—iconic "world’s end" signpost. Met Japanese tourists laughing about the random sister-city listings (even Suqian, China!). Oyster Cove 🍽️—no oysters available (sad!), but the Chinese-run restaurant had tasty (but tiny) dishes. Afternoon Hike & Paua Fail: Walked the Stirling Point trail—locals were super friendly, especially older folks! 👋 (Regret not going all the way to the abalone spot—turns out it connects!) Checked tide apps 🌊, arrived 1-2 hours before low tide. Tried lazily digging near Stirling Point—only found one tiny paua (released it). 😅 Rushed to Bluff Lookout → Beautiful Lookout (30-min steep descent). Pro tip: ❗Brutal climb back up—not for the weak! ❗Go before dark—the jungle path gets sketchy! 🌲 Met a fellow Chinese traveler who scored a black abalone—real pro move! But we missed the "NPC instructions" on reaching the rocks. 😂 Made it back to the summit lookout at sunset—moon + sun magic! 🌅🌙 Final Thoughts: NZ’s southern coast = raw, wild, and unpredictable! Abalone hunting = equal parts fun and struggle. Bluff’s "end-of-world" vibes are real. 📸 #NewZealand #SouthIslandNZ #RoadTrip #Invercargill #BluffNZ #AbaloneHunting #WorldsEnd #CoastalAdventures #TravelFail #ButTheViewWorthIt