A great cliff-hugging road leads you to Curio Bay, where the coastline drops away into a sculpted seascape of wave-polished rock and tidal pools. Here, embedded in the intertidal zone, lies one of the planet’s most evocative reminders of deep time: a 180-million-year-old petrified forest. At low tide the stumps, trunks and root systems of Jurassic trees emerge from the water like the ruins of a forgotten temple, their Rorschach silhouettes caught between ocean and sky.
The first encounter with the fossil forest is cinematic. As the sea retreats, the layered sandstone fills with light; fossilised rings and knots peer up from the bedrock, worn smooth by millennia of surf. The scene is at once geological textbook and haunting cathedral — an ancient woodland frozen in stone while gulls wheel above and basalt platforms glisten where shearwater and starfish find refuge. Photographers chase the low-angle sun to bring out the subtle banding of the fossilised timbers, while nature-lovers linger to imagine a temperate Jurassic forest thriving where salt spray now reigns.
Curio Bay is more than ancient stone. The sweep of the beach and the dense coastal scrub behind it are a vital breeding ground for the rare yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho), one of the world’s rarest penguin species. The penguins come ashore to nest in secluded vegetation and, if you’re lucky and exceptionally respectful, you may glimpse them returning at dusk — ghostly, deliberate figures edging up from the surf. Because these birds are so easily disturbed, sightings are best enjoyed from a distance, using binoculars or guided tours that follow strict viewing protocols.
How to experience Curio Bay responsibly
- Time your visit to the tide. The fossil forest is most visible and impressive at low tide; consult a local tide table and arrive with time to spare so you can explore safely without racing the incoming sea.
- Respect wildlife rules. The yellow-eyed penguin is sensitive to disturbance. Stay on marked paths, avoid torchlight and flash photography near nesting areas, and keep noise to a minimum at dawn and dusk when penguins