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Published: March 16th 2009
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Bluffcliff Beach
Very dramatic - windy and cold. Thursday March 12th Te Anau to Riverton
“Here’s the thing… I’ve already gone crazy once. I know what my limits are.” Stephanie Meyer (Eclipse)
“Or so I thought…” jss
The day started off pretty slow. Cleaned up and left the Holiday Park and went into town to do laundry and get caught up on my reports (which you read I guess) It’s sunny but cool. I head south on the Scenic Trail which starts at Manapouri. It is approx 80 klm from here to Tuatapere. This is a big expansive valley with snow-capped peaks on both sides. By my count I see 3 camper vans, 8 cars, 5 farmers and 4 dogs in this section of road. As I get further south the wind picks up and I’m seeing 20-30 kph with gusts up to 50. Remember the road signs, “drive to conditions”? Well it becomes very apparent that this wind “condition” could blow me off the road! Slowing down, I arrive in Tuatapere and as suggested by Ron, I continue on out to Bluffcliffs Beach. En-route I pass two cyclers trailing plastic cacoon “packs”. It was a couple and the guy, skinny (what else) and 6’ 3”
appeared to be older than me. I’m guessing crazier too. Bluffcliffs Beach was another one of those “oh wow” moments. I guess this is still the Tasman Sea at this point. Big rolling waves with great dunes, rainy, a raw wind gusting from 25-30kph. Where is everyone? Back in Tuatapere I stop for my afternoon long black. A white haired motherly looking lady serves me in her little café/antique shop. I ask her about a pastry (lemon custard with raspberries) and she said, “Your heart needs that”. I agreed. Fuel up and off to Gemstone Beach. When I arrive the wind is still blowing hard, the waves are crashing in and its high tide. Not a good day for gemstones. I had promised to stop and collect some stones in memory of Matt and by golly I did. The surf was so rough that the beach was covered with several inches of tanish-white foam. Oddly, even in my flip-flops the water wasn’t cold. Got the stones and out of there just as a heavy rainstorm hits. Riverton isn’t too far now. I roll into town and stop at the Globe Hotel, local backpackers/hotel and home of Ron’s favorite pub. Paula
had called ahead so I got a room and settled in for the night. I have to eat one of their World Famous in Riverton pizzas and it was excellent. A word of warning, do not under any circumstances get into a drinking contest with the big owner/bartender. I saw him put away at least ten 12oz glasses of beer while I was there and that was only an hour and a half. Tomorrow will be the end of the nasty weather!
Friday March 13th - Or as they say ‘ere, Blick Friedey
Sure enough, the clouds are beginning to break. Still cold. I have breakfast down the street from the Globe at Mrs. Clarks. After an interesting discussion about coffee choices the young lady explains to me that what I want is an Americano. Duh…with all the long, short, flat white etc. she is the first one to tell me that they do call what we typically drink an Americano. I confirm this later in Invercargill. I now stroll down the street and into a Paua Shop. There I spend 30 min. talking to a lady about how the various types of shells are processed. She and
Low Tide in Bluff
This guy has missed several hi tides the owner do all the shell finishing on site. On to Invercargill or more accurately, Bluff. This is very much a working community, no seaside resort, which was founded by whalers in the early 1800’s. I drive around to the signal house, where they originally posted flags for the ships at sea. This isn’t as far south as you can get on the South Island, but it is as far south as I will be. If you go to Bluff you cannot miss the hill view. At the top is a special viewing station that has a 360o viewing platform with a granite ledge. The ledge has all the islands and landmarks etched in it. You can clearly see Stewart Island and I think I saw an iceberg. At the base of the hill I noticed a small graveyard. It is one of thousands established around the country to honor the veterans of WW II. This one has a grove of twenty-five pine trees planted in 1946. One for each man from Bluff who died in the war. I sensed it was a very special place and couldn’t help but think about Foster, my late father-in-law and his service in
Bottom of the World
Well not the bottom of THE world but as far as I'll get on this trip the R.C.A.F.
Back to Invercargill and a stop at the museum. While reading about the specially built Indian motorcycle from here that set speed records at the salt flats in Utah I came up with an idea. Ron, in addition to your café list you need to compile a list of spots for special souvenirs. You could also throw in best t-shirt shop etc. so folks like me won’t waste our time looking in shops in every wide place in the road. But no, thats half the fun. Turning north again I first come to Gore. This is quite a bustling center that supports all kinds of farm industry. Turning off toward Raes Junction I soon run into a detour. The Clutha River is flooding near here. Off on the detour and after a while discover that it is not well marked. Fortunately after only one wrong turn I flag down a school bus driver who leads me back to the correct road. Not much later I’m turning north past Raes Junction into the area called Otago. The entire river valley is a sea of orchards. I see not one but four different rainbows. Now passing through a series of
Cemetary in Bluff
This one's for you Foster. Nearly half these guys were actually in the NZ Air Force small towns, each with it's fruit and veggie stands. It is at this point that I realize why Invercargill is the Rodney Dangerfield of the South Island. This is Eden compared to that flat grazing land. Forty-five minutes later I am in Alexandra. I find the outfitter for my ride on the rail trail, the grocery store and Holiday Park. Long day.
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