Last Sunday I suggested to Nigel that we head down to Fortrose on the south coast, a 50-60 minute drive from Gore taking the country road through Wyndham, Glenham and Waimahaka. When we left Gore it was cold and foggy. To be honest we were glad to get out of the place. Stirling Tides cafe at Fortrose is always wonderful and has a fire so we knew we’d be ok. We couldn’t believe our luck when we reached Fortrose – it was absolutely perfect, a beautiful sunny day with no wind. We had a lovely long walk along the beach in the sunshine before returning to the car and driving to the cafe for lunch.
Fortrose, Southland, New Zealand
Fortrose: First Impressions
Our car is parked behind me and Nigel is already on the beach. Behind Nigel is Toetoes Estuary at the mouth of the Mataura River (very large river that also runs through Gore where we live). We’ve never seen Fortrose in such perfect conditions.
** Click on ANY photo below to enlarge **
Lots of driftwood gets deposited at the high-tide mark. If we’d walked in the direction shown below we would’ve soon reached the cafe. Instead we turned in the opposite direction for our walk.
The estuary lagoon was like a mill pond!
A rough boat ramp leads down into the estuary.
Turning now in the direction in which we’ll walk. What you can see in the distance is where the Toetoes Estuary opens to the sea at Toetoes Bay.
I’ve blogged about the beach near the cafe, see Out in the Country and by the Sea
To be continued…
Text and Photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2018)
Exploring Colour 
Such a serene scene, Liz.
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Thank you Tanja! It was really peaceful that day.
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Amazingly fabulous!! You have really found a beautiful place on earth and the images are great!
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What a treat for me this morning to receive such a lovely comment…you’ve made my day Anita! Thank you!
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Wow, beautiful, Liz, with such lovely reflections of the clouds in the water. What a treat to be there on such a warm and sunny day.
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Thank you Ellen! It was so perfectly lovely!
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thanks for sharing this beautiful place on earth
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When its good, its very very good … when its bad its horrid! Always nice inside Stirling Tides cafe though 🙂
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What wonderful photos Liz- a perfect day. I love beaches with driftwood and rummaging through all the knotted and twisted shapes. We enjoyed the beach at Hokitika on a visit to NZ a few years ago for that reason.
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Thank you Jane. I expect you’ll enjoy the rest of this series then as there’ll be more driftwood. Beaches like at Hokitika over on the West Coast are wild and wonderful places!
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Thanks. A simple walk, with photos, shows others parts of the world they may never see. I always enjoy a good walk.
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We do too and its rare to have such a pleasant walk here in winter!
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Lovely spot, we must have gone inland from the Catlins to Invercargill, I don’t remember seeing it. Next time for sure.
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I doubt that you would have not gone past it but in bad weather it would’ve been easy to miss. Its rare for it to be perfect like we had it on Sunday 🙂
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Must be your reward for such a bleak winter.
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From memory, it was pretty awful when we got to Invercargill, cold and wet so maybe we did just not see enough appeal to stop.
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On such a day there’d be nothing to see that would make you want to stop!
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That looks so beautiful…..can’t wait to see the cafe.😊
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Hi Carol. It was stunning! I haven’t done anything new about the cafe but that should have come up as a link you can follow to my old blog-post that showed the beach outside of the cafe and a shot or two of the cafe area itself – outside not inside.
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