Invercargill

Cleaned up paua shells for sale in Riverton outside Invercargill.
We stopped here so Glen could pick up some tips on 
what to do with all his shells.

The drive from Dunedin to Invercargill is littered with beaches and remote countryside.  We stopped to poke around looking for paua shells on a few of them, and then we were into the Catlins area of New Zealand.  It felt kind of like driving through the Canadian prairie.  Beautiful, but after awhile you just want to get where you're going.  In New Zealand, you always need to be prepared to stop for cows or sheep on the road - today was one of those days!

The east coast on the way to Invercargill near Papatowai

A funny concrete bridge at Balclutha.  This picture is
mostly for my dear friend KJP who loves bridges!

When the farmers need to move the cows to a different
pasture, the highway shuts down for a bit.

We buzzed through to our next stop which was a funny little guest house called Lovett Lodge in Invercargill, a smallish city at the southern end of the south island.  We were greeted by a charming and somewhat eccentric lady named Jilly at Lovett Lodge - it was an old house with a lot of guest rooms in it.  There was a big social room with lots of couches and a television, a communal 'conservatory' at the front of the house, and a large kitchen and dining room that we were free to use.  It all felt somewhat institutional, and we found out later that it used to be a seniors rest home.  We were lucky enough to get the one room that had an ensuite - all the others had shared bath facilities.  It was a bit quirky, but we liked it.

Lovett Lodge in Invercargill.  

There was a group of young men staying at the lodge who were are all plumbing apprentices here to do some of their annual schooling.  They finished up their time while we were here, and had themselves quite a party on their final night.  We joined them for a bbq the first night we were here and enjoyed our conversations with them.  Jilly made up a wonderful array of salads and vegetables to go with the steaks, lamb and sausages - it was a delicious feast.  

Our first day in Invercargill was spent beach combing - our favourite activity.  We hiked along a lot of really remote trails and over some rocky bluffs and outcroppings.  Glen came up with a number of paua shells and was very pleased with the day's haul.  

Paua hunting king!

Oreti Beach - you can drive onto this beach - it's massive.

Oreti Beach was covered in these funny kelp balls.

More of the lovely red kelp

Looking back on the dunes at Oreti Beach.
You can tell how far back towards the water I am by
the size of the cars.  It's a remarkably flat area, and the
water was lovely and warm as a result.

Miles of beach 

Beach, Dunes and Cars!  Oreti Beach near Invercargill.

Our second day, we headed south to the very tip of the island to a little town called Bluff where we did some hiking and a bit more beach combing.  There is a ferry that goes from here to Stewart Island, the not-so-well-known third and most southerly of the NZ islands.  You can't take a car over, so we decided not to spend $260 on ferry fare to walk over for the day.  If we had been able to find a place to stay overnight there, we would definitely have gone . . . but the accommodations were all booked.  Our favourite phrase has become 'We can't see everything'!  We've learned to enjoy what we're doing and seeing and not worry about what we might have missed.  Most of the New Zealanders we've met have told us we've seen far more of the country than they have.

Up the top of the bluff in Bluff - looking back towards
Invercargill.  Notice the very narrow bit of land that
joins this area to the mainland. Bluff is the southern-most
tip of the south island.

Looking south towards Antarctic from the top of the bluff
in Bluff.  Actuallythat's Stewart Island in the distance.  THEN comes 
the Antarctic.  Glen calls these forests 'Broccoli' forests.

There was a beautiful walking trail along the shoreline
to the tip.  We walked for about an hour, then turned back.

House along the waterfront drive in Bluff

Waterfront drive in Bluff.  Some of these old places
need a little TLC, others are quite inviting.

It's a pretty CBD (Central Business District) full of
turn-of-the-century buildings.

One rarely sees a STOP sign in New Zealand.
They politely ask you to Give Way.

Coastline and huge kelp

This beach was all red kelp and sand.  Beautiful.