The Deep South

Having reached Cape Reinga, the northerly tip of the North Island we set off early in the morning to find the most southerly point of the South Island. Cape Reinga celebrates its position on the map with a light house and a multi-place signpost pointing to major world cities. The most southerly tip of the South Island by contrast is a relatively low key affair. Slope Point is reached by way of a 6 mile gravel road and then a mile walk over fields in rolling but not dramatic coastal scenery. Reaching a small grassy headland a simple signpost announces you've reached the most southerly tip of the island and informs you that in one direction its 5140 kilometers to the equator and 4803 kilometers to the South Pole.

The usual debate about which way to go next....

Our next destination as we travelled through fairly mundane but pleasant countryside was the small port of Bluff. There isn't much at Bluff if truth be told, its a working port, so typical shabby steel or aluminium warehouses line the approach. At the edge of town is however a very pretty headland with a more impressive signpost to rival that found at Cape Reinga. There were also lots of walking tracks so as the sun was shining we set off following a trail along the coast and then up into bush onto a track called the Glory Road. On the way back down there were scattered World War 2 gun batteries that formed part of New Zealands coastal defences against a possible Japanese invasion.

The more impressive signpost at Bluff

Tui spotted on Bluff Headland

We'd opted to stop overnight in New Zealands most southerly city of Invercargill. It doesn't have much to detain the visitor but a couple of things were noteworthy. It was home to a motorcycling ace called Burt Munro who set a number of world speed records in the 1960s. Burt Munro was a pretty remarkable man. He set his speed records on a 1920s Indian Scout motorcycle that had a top speed of 50mph. He modified it over the years until at the age of 68 he broke the world speed record..reaching a speed of 190 mph on a bike that was 47 years old. This record still stands today. Burt died in 1978 but his beloved Indian Scout motorbike is on display in a hardware store (EL Hayes) in Invercargill. We wandered around the store which doubles up as a motor museum! 

The campsite lent us a DVD of the biopic made of Burt Munros life..called 'The Worlds Fastest Indian'..starring Anthony Hopkins. Its a feel good type of film, recommended for family viewing and provided a pleasant and cheap night in for Mrs B. and myself as Ned has all mod cons including a DVD player!

The next morning, before leaving Invercargill,  we headed to the Southland Museum which has a small exhibition on Burt Munro as well as one of the replica Indian Scout motorcycles used in the filming...and opportunity to climb in it...so I did!

The museum also has a large collection of 'living dinosaurs'. Called tuatara these reptiles are unique to New Zealand. Dating back at least 200 million years they followed a different evolutionary path to lizards and snakes. They have no ears, but are able to hear sound and have 'third eye' invisible in adults but detectable in young. There were lots of tuatara at Southland Museum and we spent some time watching them do very little. The star tuatara is Henry who is at least 115 years old. 

Henry..the dinosaur

The deep south of New Zealand had thrown up some eclectic surprises but once again it was time to move on. We were headed to one of the most unspoilt areas of the country: Fjordland.