Invercargill

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The city of Invercargill Invercargill is at the very bottom of South Island - yuo can't get much further south than here. Stewart Island is actually off the coast, accessed by scenic Bluff a short drive east of the city, but we didn't have time to go there and experience it, sadly.

The city is laid out in a grid pattern, with very wide streets and a feeling of spaciousness. The street names are mostly the names of rivers in Scotland.

This is a city which has not yet prepared itself for the potential of tourism. We did see a few interesting things on our historical tour of the city, but the downtown area is somewhat lacking in a welcoming appearance. The main local industry appears to be the plant where Keith works, the abbatoire where much of the country's lamb is processed and shipped worldwide.

In the Visitor's Centre there is a Tuatarium, where we observed the country's only successful breeding programme of the ancient species of lizard called the Tuatara

The babies are reported to be more active than the adults who watched us through the glass with stony reserve. In fact, they were statuesque. After hearing about them repeatedly I finally saw one, live.

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Photos

Hedge
Another example of the tall hedges used as windbreaks in the fields. Not always protecting an orchard, just breaking up the winds. This one hasn't been shaved in a while!

Lawn bowls green
Invercargill has an active club near Queen's Park.

Walk Through Aviary
In the Queen's Park thre are exotic birds in cages but also one part where you join the birds in their big cage. Budgies and parakeets here with a few doves.

Birds up close
A dove - looks closer than I was because of the ZOOM.

Former train station
This is one of the buildings identified as of historical importance on the self-guided tour. But it is now a privately run B and B so we couldn't see inside.

Cath church
on Historical tour

Cath church
on Historical tour

Cath church
on Historical tour

Stations of the cross
done in an interesting twist: all images of hands.

Kiwi inventiveness again
Here, see how the parishioners are kept warm in winter without central heating. Pat figures the thick tube is a heater. It would keep people on their knees to keep warm! NZ is said to be very secular; many of their churches are suffering from a lack of cash flow.

On closer inspection
the thriftiness of the artwork becomes apparent: particleboard varnished to a high sheen makes the background, the words pasted in a rectangle shielded from the varnish. Ah, that frugal Scots influence shines!

Keith my first cousin!
Brother of Steve and Judith in Opotiki, Keith and his wife Christeen have lived in Invercargill for about 30 years.

Grand daugher Samantha
shares a seat with Pat in Keith and Christeen's lounge.

Christeen is recovering
from a day at work, making a huge meal which we devoured and staying up late with us. We ate them out of house and home.

Waxy O'Shea's Irish pub
in downtown Invercargill. Pat manages to find an Irish pub in just about every place we go. This has a beautiful interior.

Waxy's
could it be a former church? This made me wonder. Also, the railings forming high tables looked suspiciously like elongated communion railings to me. Must have been Anglican.