Bluff and Queens Park

 

Just a short drive from Invercargill is the oldest European town in New Zealand having been settled continuously since 1824.  It's famous in New Zealand for its oysters and the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.   We started our day with hail showers that then turned to driving cold 10degrees wind and then the sun started to peep through.  By the time we stopped at Bluff it was sunny but the pictures below can't show the wind chill factor....brrrr.

The Stirling Point signal station is a great spot to stop. It was named after Captain William Stirling who established a whaling station there in 1836. On a good day you can see across to Stewart Island. 

There looked to be very healthy kelp forests along the edge of the rocky shore and a few hardy souls were rock-hopping and exploring despite the cold wind. 

We could see big weather coming in so we made for the Bluff Hill lookout before the rain hit

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From the top of Bluff Hill you can see back up the west coast towards Invercargill and beyond and directly below you could look over to the aluminium smelter and port. The port was busy with huge trucks coming and going with logs and machinery. With all that action we thought there was bound to be a cafe to warm ourselves up in.  We didnt find one cafe open. 

So it was adios Bluff and back to Invercargill to find a café to warm up in.    Then on to the fabulous Queens Gardens. Absolutely gorgeous! They are one of New Zealand's Gardens of National Significance and you can see why.   The climate must do something special to the plants down this way, the blooms on the roses were phenominal and the flower colour palette vibrant.  We loved the winter garden and wandered through the Japanese and Chinese Gardens. No wind, sun shining, beautiful gardens.... very happy

There is a petting farm with small animals for children  and the odd peacock strolling around - check out those tail feathers. 

There was a beautiful herbaceous border area supported by donations from the Southland Catholic Community and the plantings were stunning.  

The icing on the cake is the fabulous water tower on the edge of the park  - zoom in to see the spectacular craftsmanship of the bricklayers of old - beautiful. Built in 1889 its a mix of utility and beauty and protected the largely wooden buildings from fire in the early settlement days.

Invercargill here we come

 Off to Invercargill...via Manapouri, Tuatapere and all spots in between.    We had a gloomy start so the following picture of Lake Manapouri is courtesy of the local tourist office.  We had a coffee stop here and chatted to a young French woman who was the local barrista. What a gal - at the end of her working visa here in NZ she plans to crew on a yacht leaving for wherever...she's travelling for another two years and with solid sailing experience adventure awaits her.  

We didn't stop in Tuatapere which is allegedly the sausage capital of New Zealand but it's a groovy little rural town and quite a few cafes to boot. 

Next stop Clifden suspension bridge. At one time this was  the longest suspension bridge in the world. It was built in 1899 and a feat of engineering and the unbelievable fact is it only took ten months to build back then. It's claim to fame was quickly overtaken by much bigger suspension bridges around the world  but it still stands and can be walked over by foot traffic only.  What a spot! 

Ah, back to the coast and the roaring surf.   This is probably about as west as you can get and  the surf was pounding. 

We had to stop at Monkey Island beach as just a few days ago there had been a sighting of an Antarctic penguin, the Adelie penguin, here. It was a long way from home, approximately 4,854 ks back in Antarctica. The little parking spot in Monkey Bay was quite busy with penguin spotters but no penguin to be seen.  Very nice little bay to visit.  

This coast has so many lovely little beach spots to explore. We skipped Gemstone Beach but made a stop at Colac Bay.  

Colac Bay is a gorgeous little horseshoe bay with a few baches dotted along one edge. The local pub looked to be busy serving coffees and the rain had stopped - bliss. 

Our last beach side stop before we hit the big smoke of Invercargill was Riverton. We could see a big weather front approaching so we stopped for lunch while the sun was still trying to shine and admired the river estuary and little fishing boat harbour. Riverton is taking off with a lot of new builds and the little harbour and estuary are stunning, even in questionable weather. We loved it! 

After what felt like a day of driving we arrived in Dunedin and hit the pavement. Fabulous walk around the city admiring the wonderful architecture. There are so many wonderful buildings and it is great to see them being restored and integrated into the new city design. Invercargill looks promising so there is more exploring to do tomorrow.  It's certainly improved since my last visit about 15 years ago. 

In amongst the wonderful old architecture are some stunning street murals on the walls of buildings.  

Some not so creative shop names...

My favourite mural on the side of a two story building - a kittycat of course!

Te Anau & Milford Sound

 Yesterday's destination was Milford Sound. The weather forecast was not good and even worse for the following day, so we threw caution to the wind [more about that later] and made our way via Te Anau to Milford.   

On the shores of Lake Te Anau we found a humble little sculpture honoring Quentin McKracken, the original surveyor of the Milford track in the late 1800's. It's mind boggling to think how the track cutters and pioneer explorers managed in what would have been an extremely challenging terrain and environment and without all the modern equipment and clothing we have today. 

Our first stop was in the Eglington Valley and the weather in the direction was Milford looked very gloomy. The Eglington Valley was base camp for all the road workers on the government employment scheme that supported the Milford road and Homer tunnel being built in the early 1900s.  Hats of the the hardy pioneer women that lived here too, raising children, cooking and washing in what is the wettest environment in NZ - the mind boggles how they got all the heavy woolen clothing dry. Tough pioneers back then. 

Another leg stretch stop at the Mirror Lakes - a  pristine little oxbow from the main river that supports a healthy diverse environment - we even spotted an eel cruising along in the clear water. 

As we approached the Homer tunnel the weather really clagged in and the waterfalls started streaming down the sides of the sheer fjord walls - totally beautiful even in the rainy / misty weather.  Before the tunnel was knocked through the story goes that there were two teams, one working from the Te Anau side and one from the Milford side. The paymaster would come each fortnight with little pay envelopes for each worker and they had a climber that would climb over the top and pay the men on the Milford side. Yikes!  It's an enormous climb on a good day however it rains three  days out of four in Milford - again  you have to admire the tenacity and grit of some of the early pioneers. 

Over 30 yrs ago I travelled through the Homer tunnel in a campervan and in those days it was two way traffic which was super scary. The tunnel roof was still rocky and craggy where it had been originally hacked away - our driver [not me] moved over to the left hand side to let a small car pass and we crunched the top of the campervan luton.  Nowadays thank goodness they have  a one way system and traffic lights in place. 

The view that greeted us as we arrived at Milford fjord - not looking great. 

You can't go all that way and not go out on the fjord so off we went and it was lovely even in the mist. The walls of the fjord take your breath away they are so sheer.  In one place you could clearly see a massive cleft in the rockface and the cruise guide indicated this was an ancient  fault line and then went on to say that they have been having small earthquakes there daily for the last month or so but we were totally safe. 

With all the rain and mist the waterfalls  were amazing, everywhere you looked the walls of the fjord were streaming with spectacular waterfalls - the photos are inadequate at showing their splendour so you'll have to take my word for it.   

Our cruise took us out to the Tasman Sea and at one stage in the narrowest part of the fjord the wind coming off the sea into the fjord was gusting 40 knots - it was quite spectacular and you had to hold on tight on the top deck.  We did find some sheltered spots and even spotted some young male seals that were sleeping on rocks.  

What a special place, even in poor weather, it was still breathtaking.   There were a lot of overseas visitors on the cruise and they were all in awe of the fjord and didn't mind the weather one little bit.