Since finishing the cycling trip, we have been working our way north towards Nelson. This means a lot of driving for Ken. He has adapted very well, but it does require a lot of attention. I find providing navigation services in inner cities and on small country roads, where there is no cell service, challenging, at times.
Whinging aside, our first post cycling stop was Queenstown. Ken’s response to our visit to Queenstown was “Yeah, no”.
We were interested in seeing the city after watching an episode of Grand Designs, New Zealand because it seems that most of the homes in the area hang off the side of cliffs. That’s almost true! The Remarkables (the mountains in the heading picture) are on one end and somewhat smaller mountains line either side of Lake Wakatipu.
It’s gorgeous, but steep. There’s a great city park and a nice downtown beach but the town was filled with hordes of fancy shops, adventure booking companies and tourists. Queenstown is like Banff; multi-season, the centre of all “Adventure Tourism”, but uncontrolled by national park rules. So, would we want to spend a long period of time there? Nope.
The only really interesting thing was the cable car as we had a gorgeous day and the view was amazing.
(Click on the Arrows to See all 4 Pictures)
Next came the trek down to Invercargill, with a side tour to Riverton. Riverton is an arts centre, but it closes down at 2pm on Saturday afternoon. We managed lunch in a dilapidated café whose website states that at any time of day its “as busy as it gets”. It was pretty good. We managed to get into a few shops before they closed and picked up a couple of trinkets.
I had expected Invercargill to be a small, wasting town. It isn’t. There is a fair amount of industry in the area. It boasts a brand-new downtown, indoor shopping mall and a huge Home Depot like hardware store with a really impressive, full-service café inside. No limited Tim Horton’s pickings for this crowd.
Ken’s Bennies earned his unequivocal approval. We were only there for a quick breakfast before heading out on the road again as it was kitty corner to our motel. There’s not a lot of tourist accommodation in the area.
For our evening in Invercargill, we drove out to Stirling Point in Bluff. This is the furthest south point of the main NZ islands. It was overcast and blowing, so we didn’t see Antarctica or the Aurora Australis, or eat any of the renowned local oysters or see any penguins. But we did get our picture under the point’s infamous direction post. Okay, so you can’t see Antarctica, and it was the wrong season for the Aurora, oysters and penguins. In the gale force winds I almost lost my footing walking down the circular ramp from the view point on the hill, though. I guess we are in what the sailors call the “Roaring 40’s”, so we shouldn’t have been surprised by the wind.
The young lady who took our picture was Cassie from Ohio. She was nearing the end of her one year working visa and was nervous about the culture shock she was anticipating on her return to the US. One of her many jobs had been in a polling station during the last NZ election. She found it quite different than similar events in the US. She asked where we were from and then asked me if I knew Jeromy Farkas (ex provincial and municipal politician). I was a bit dumbfounded about the request but, apparently, she met him on the Pacific Crest Trail in August 2022. She wanted me to say Hi to him for her. So, I took her picture and promised to get a message to him. One of our neighbours just happens to be a good friend of Jeromy’s.
We took the Coastal Scenic Highway from Invercargill to Dunedin, changing a 2.5hour drive into a full day event. We stopped at Curio Bay/Porpoise Bay, McLean Falls, Papatowai, Purakaunui Falls and Nugget Point.
Curio Bay is the site of the Petrified Forest where a section of the forest was buried in ash following a volcanic eruption. That section of the coast is only visible at low tide. The fossilized trees lie haphazardly over the rocky beach and can be found layered in the cliff wall behind the beach. Further down the beach are the nesting grounds for the Yellow Eyed Penguin. At this time of year, the chicks are getting ready to leave their nests in the bushes and the adults will soon enter molting season.
Though I thought I heard whistling peeps from the bush, I did not see any. They are shy birds and endangered. Visitors are warned to stay 30 metres away from them.
The Tokata Lighthouse at Nugget Point lies at the top of a cliff and is marked on the ocean below by a series of pointy rocks that show vertical layering from the up-thrust pattern of the rock. They almost form a circular pattern, somewhat resembling Stonehenge.
Dunedin will be the next post.