Dunedin - New Zealand - March 2009

We travelled from Invercargill to Dunedin through some very pretty farmland. Everything was lush and green. The weather was still wet, cold and windy so we decided to only stay one night and then head north to the warmer part of the country.

We had time to check out the St Clair Golf Course and Otago Harbour. We stayed at a motel in the city central and had to find our way around the Octogon which was very easy when you knew how.

We also checked out "Baldwin Street" which is the steepest street in the world.

The city is full of history with some beautiful old buildings, churches and homes.

It was too wet and cold for golf so we headed north along the coastline to Timaru.

Kingston - New Zealand - March 2009

Kingston was our lunch stop travelling Queenstown to Invercargill. We had seen the "Kingston Flyer" in action on the way to see Milford Sound the previous week so we thought we would call in to the railway station to see it arrive back from it's 30 klm tourist excursion to Mossburn and return.

It was facinating to see the old steam trains kept in mint condition just like the good old days.

The carriages were first and second class - note the post box on the side of the train (photo attached). It was not hard to be carried back in time just looking at the old carriages & engines.

It reminded me of the good old "Moree - North West Mail".

Invercargill - New Zealand - March 2009

We travelled to Invercargill from Queenstown via Kingston. The countryside was lush and green and we travelled through some beautiful farmlands and the road was in good condition all the way. It was quite a comfortable trip.

We stayed in the Quest Apartments in downtown Invercargill which was very convenient for us as the apartment was fully equiped and we could walk to the restaurants and shops. The complex also had complimentary internet which was a bonus. I was surprised at how big the city was. There were some lovely department stores with reasonably priced quality clothes.

We visited the Queens Park Gardens where I had a chat with the resident rose gardener & got some rose growing tips. Next door was the Museum so we decided to have a quick look through. We were delighted to find that the Museum had a section devoted to Burt Munro. By co-incidence I had watched "The world's fastest Indian" movie on the plane coming over to NZ so the story was fresh in my mind. Seeing the "real deal" cycle and all the other memorabilia was a treat & we also got to watch a 20 minute interview with Burt covering his life which was very interesting.

The weather was cold, wet and windy which we were told was typical Invercargill weather. We saw a lot of the windswept trees while driving around the area. Rather than trying to play golf we decided that we would take a side trip to Bluff just to say that we had reached the end of New Zealand mainland before moving on to Dunedin.

Bluff - New Zealand - March 2009

Bluff is not very far from Invercargill so we decided to have a look at the place and to check out the Stewart Island experience by ferry from Bluff.

Bluff is a very historic place & we found a visit to Bluff Hill lookout a worthwhile experience. We did not have good weather that day & decided a ferry trip to Stewart Island would not be a good idea.

Stewart Island is a mecca for trekkers & we saw quite a few tourists with trekking gear board the ferry.

It was a cold, wet and windy day so we did not see Bluff at it's best.