ca. 44 km
From Papatowai via Tautuku Bay on the Chaslands Highway - which is now sealed - to a very magnificent place called Curio Bay. There you can find a petrified forest, inhabited by penguins, and in the neighborhood of Porpoise Bay the very rare Hector dolphins with their babies.
After starting in Papatowai we biked straight into the first larger incline - this way I got awake for the day. At the top we were rewarded for the effort with a wonderful view along the vast Tautuku Bay. The sun was shining, the sea roared, but the wind was pretty cool and cutting. For biking in a T-Shirt, this area is not suitable even in New Zealand's summer, it's probably because of the cold ocean current.
On the flat section past the Tautuku Bay, unfortunately the sea side was not tuched, but we had the gravel road again. The good news for the cyclist is: the route is now paved all the way to Curio Bay. Further on, the road meanders through the foothills of the Catlins, a still largely untapped mountain range in the back country of the coast. The route is characterized therefore by the largely absence of towns. Only the tiny place Chaslands is located along the route. Perhaps that's why the road is also called Chaslands Highway.
Therefore wonderful views open up from the heights to the mountainous and wooded area. Fortunately the largest climb towards the end of this section was already paved at that time, so we could pass it without big hassle. After rushing this hill completely down again, we finally reached the branch to Niagara, Waikawa and Curio Bay.
After about 10 km along some bays we reached the destination of the day, a campground with a tiny little shop. This strip of land between Porpoise Bay and Curio Bay is so windswept, that our tent would be blown away without protection. Therefore, around the camping sites - very unusually - there are man-sized flax hedges, which are so dense that the wind roared only above us, but we were perfectly protected from it.
