Dear all
To quote Lonely Planet - 'Invercargill rarely scores high marks with travellers' and we can truly vouch for that. This is a town that time forgot and is seeped in 70's and 80's throw backs and hairstyles! However it was a necessary evil that had to sampled in order to gain access to Stewart Island our most southerly destination of our tour and the furthest away from home we will be on our trip.
All was not lost in that we found a few hidden gems hidden in the rough and given yesterday was such a big wow day it was good to have some admin and down time. The day started well in that the monster wind and rain storm from the night had dissipated and the sky was a perfect blue when we got up - always a good way top start the day. Our first stop was the inevitable I-site, which is handily located at the Southland Museum & Art Gallery. We booked our ferries/boats and accommodation for Stewart Island and Milford Sound and feeling smug with ourselves ventured off to view the museum. First problem was the lack of exhibits as it was being 'restocked'! There was one section open where they house the Tuatura's.These creatures look like lizards but are actually from a completely different reptile family and fossils date back to over 50 years ago. They became extinct along with the dinosaurs 60-65 million years ago everywhere except here in New Zealand where they survived. Bizarre! They have two different species in the exhibit, but undoubtedly the start of the show is Henry who at 108 started mating with three females and has produces over 40 offspring in the last 10 years! Blimey that shows you boys! We then stretched our legs around the very pretty Queens park behind the building with its very sweet smelling rose garden. Of course on the edge of the park Dean managed to find the local cricket ground which has seen some international action last year hosting the ODI's against Australia's women's team!
Our next little gem was lunch when we found this very cute take away called Curry-Guru which had a great lunch deal of any curry with rice and a drink for $8.50 or just over 4 quid to us ! Even better they had Thai & Indian on the menu so we were both happy..............This afternoon we wondered around the town for a while then down to our campsite for the night for a bit of R&R. Just as we got set up the wind returned and as we speak the rain has started again - Ho Hum another night of rocking camper van.
Tomorrow we are off to Bluff to get our ferry for a couple of days on Stewart Island.
Right off to brave the weather and cook dinner.
Night all
Sara
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