Blogs from Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill May 3rd 2021

It should only take us a couple of hours driving to make it to Invercargill and on the map it looks about as direct as any of the drives so far on the Grand Tour. Again the day has dawned clear and crisp and the forecast is clear for all day. It was a bit sad to be moving on from such a comfortable and well appointed apartment but the adventure on Stewart Island beckons. One would think there was no other highway to take us down to Invercargill but Highway 6 which we have been on since Nelson. There really isn’t another option as we start out from Queenstown, so 6 it is! Sometimes when you are speeding along the highway you can’t pick up the name of any little side road that you pass ... read more
Our apartment at Villa del Lago
Looking south to Kingston
The Remarkables close up

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill November 15th 2016

Geo: -46.4131, 168.357Coffee, showers and breakfast, fueled up then headed off.Took the scenic route thru the Catlins stopping at Matai Falls and Florence Hill Lookout.Had lunch and used the 'dump' site in Tokanui, then drove on to Invercargill.Booked into our campsite, then headed down to Bluff, the bottom of the South Island.Back to Invercargill, and out to the Thar & Feather for dinner.TV and reading before bed.Ps. It rained all night... read more
Lookout!
Bluff signpost
Bluff selfie

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill June 7th 2016

We had a fantastic time in Southland. Firstly full credit to everyone involved in the Final Four basketball extravaganza, Stadium Southland is a fantastic facility. Special mention to the people of Southland who turned out in force to support the Sharks on Friday and then backed up the next day for the final despite their team not being involved. The atmosphere, noise and sheer excitement of the Saints v Sharks semi final is something that will stay with us for a very long time. Big ups to Shooter the Shark the Southland mascot for her brilliant performance on semi final night:) Invercargill itself does have a bit of a 'back in time' feel about it - in the best possible way. There's heaps of character buildings around the CBD, the streets are super wide and people ... read more
Poster Boy

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill June 5th 2016

Today dawned a brilliant fine sunny day! So much for the it's always raining and cold in Southland theory - and we're right in the middle of winter too! Standard start to our day: Breakfast at Zoolander, it's the only way to kick things off, although not so much from a weight watcher perspective (which clearly isn't my go), then the short walk around the corner to the Southland Times car park to pick up our car. It is true there are two Round the Mountains - the hard peddling, sweating, grunting push bike variety, and the much less strenuous but much more my style elbow bending Pub crawl. Just to clarify we didn't actually do the Pub crawl, that would be irresponsible and for another day when we can do the bus trip - just ... read more
Colac Bay
Queens Park entry
Queens Park Burt Munro

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill June 4th 2016

Today is our first full touristy day and we're off to a pretty good start - there's a strange yellow thing in the sky and it's surrounded by patches of blue - a sunny(ish) day in Southland, our first! We had breakfast and then headed around to pick up our loan car, The Southland Times have generously allowed us to borrow a vehicle for the next few days which was fantastic of them. Our first trip was a pleasant 20 minute drive to Bluff. Our first stop was up Bluff Hill to the lookout, it offered incredible views across Foveaux Strait and the surrounding area. We were lucky with the weather and the view included Stewart Island - exciting! Home of the famous Bluff Oyster, and a not quite so famous (but still very well known) ... read more
Bluff Sculputure
Oyster Cove Lunch
Saints Champions!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill June 3rd 2016

The Ibis is a great central location and the bed especially is really comfortable, in our room anyway the big downside was the condensation - there were literally puddles of water dripping off the window sill! If anything the weather is even worse today, heavy rain and very cold temperatures, however our day started on a really positive note when we wandered into the Zookeeper Cafe for breakfast. Not surprisingly given the name the decor has a distinctly animal theme! It is an extremely eclectic mix to be fair - from the friendly looking polar bear (complete with mosaic collar) outside, a Cheetah on a racing bike sprinting across the ceiling of the main dining area, to an absolute menagerie scattered throughout the rest of the interior, all in all it created a really cool vibe. ... read more
Zookeeper1
Official Gift Basket Handover
Stadium Southland

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill June 2nd 2016

It's been a while since we've had a proper break. This ones only short but should be a lot of fun. We're heading to Southland at the bottom of of the country, one of the few parts of New Zealand we haven't been to! Three reasons: No1: Main reason - We're huge NBL Basketball fans and Final Four is being held in Invercargill this year. The top four basketball teams in NZ are coming together battle it out to determine the top dog (number uno, the big kahuna) for 2016! Our team the mighty Wellington Saints are shooting for title number 9. It's the first time the event has been held in the deep south so it will be a huge B'ball weekend down there. The Wellington Saints and Southland Sharks are joined by regular season ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill June 2nd 2016

Beautiful day for travelling and an early start. Public transport in Wellington is great and the Airport Flyer which will take us from Lower Hutt to Wellington Airport leaves from just down the road. We had planned to jump aboard the 6.30am bus but in the end were early and caught the 6.10am. It meant a ridiculously early arrival at the airport - 6.45am for flight being called at 8.10am. Still time to get ourselves organised and enjoy a relaxing breakfast. People watching at airports is always a good way to pass time... In terms of domestic travel in NZ the Wellington to Invercargill route must be one of the most expensive in the country! We fly Wellington-Christchurch/Christchurch-Invercargill, although there are direct flights this was the cheapest option-it still cost us more than return airfares to ... read more
The Grille
Jimmy Cassidy-Legend
Buster Crabb

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill May 6th 2010

Polling day for everyone back in the UK - we’re looking forward to hearing the results as it sounds like it’s going to be an interesting election! Although being the other side of the world, polling won’t officially close until after we’ve had our breakfast tomorrow morning! Today was another quiet laid-back day for us, but oh such a perfect day! We went into Invercargill to have a look at its architecture which we were told was wonderful, I suppose it wasn’t bad, but someone had chosen to paint it in the most awful colours. There was also The Crescent, which was spoken of as something grand - I suppose I was expecting something like the Royal Crescent in Bath, and instead got something more reminiscent of Slough! You may be disappointed to know that we ... read more
Concrete Pukeko
Curio Bay Petrified Forest
Curio Bay Petrified Forest (2)

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Southland » Invercargill May 5th 2010

Now I really don’t want to whine or winge, but I have to say it is getting jolly cold at night here. It’s all very nice to see the dusting of snow on the mountain tops in the morning, but the hard frost overnight ain’t so grand when you’re in a converted van with no insulation!! John said it wasn’t too bad ... and then I realised he was sleeping in a T-shirt with a sweatshirt over the top! But then what can we expect - it is autumn here and we knew it would be cold ... I suppose from years of caravanning in my younger years (once in the snow) I expected to be warm when snuggled inside the van. The good news is that we’ve done all the dashing and chasing we needed ... read more
Windswept Coast
Carved Letterbox
Colac's Fibreglass Surfer




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