Off To Invercargill

 

We drove from Te Anau south to Invercargill this day, the third day of our Road Trip.  The weather was not always the nicest, meaning some of these photos are a little dark.

Our first stop was at Manapouri to see the Save Manapouri environmental campaign memorial.  This rock marks where the water level of the lake would have reached if hydro-electric plans had gone ahead and not been halted by a national outcry of protestors.

Around the corner is little Pearl Harbour, a lovely calm bay where boats can seek shelter.  Trips to Doubtful Sounds also begin here.

The Manapouri hydro-electric plans were not entirely shelved.  Instead, they were adapted so that the flow of water would be controlled and both Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau would be kept within their natural levels.

We stopped at the overlook for a weir that is used to control the flows of the Waiau and Mararoa Rivers to enable this to happen.

My companion wanted to stop and see the Clifden Suspension Bridge, built in 1940 across the Waiau River.  It was used for road traffic until being replaced by another bridge in 1978.

I was not game enough to walk out onto the bridge.  Instead, I stood at the end and read the Roll of Honour for the men of the district who lost their lives in World War I.  Beneath the plaque was a bucket of peonies and the words We Shall Remember Them, presumably placed there for Armistice Day.

Our next stop was more light-hearted.  Tuatapere is the Sausage Capital of New Zealand, so, of course, we had to stop and have a famous sausage for morning tea.

It was nice, but still just a sausage!

A little further on and we reached the southern coastline.  McCracken’s Rest is said to offer spectacular views up and down the coastline, but it was too wet and misty for us to see much more than the signpost.

Regardless of the weather, I was determined to stop at Gemstone Beach and collect some coloured pebbles to display in a special glass vase.

These are the ones I collected (still wet and shiny after having their sand washed off):

By now we were getting hungry, so stopped for lunch at the popular Orepuki Café.  I enjoyed my Seafood Chowder with two different homemade garlic breads.

The seaside town of Riverton was our last major destination for the day.  Settled by Europeans in the 1830s, it is one of the oldest towns in the country.

There is plenty here for the tourist to see and we managed to see most of them!  One memorial I found especially poignant – it was in remembrance of all those who had lost their lives to the sea around here.

Riverton Rocks is the name given to one section of the coast, where waves crash at full tide onto scattered off-shore rocks.

It was near low tide when we arrived, but we could still appreciate the ruggedness of this area, with strong winds blowing in our faces and the tang of sea air filling our nostrils.  My skin started to feel like it was being caked with salt!

Thankfully the weather was now clearing, and we could even see Stewart Island on the distant horizon.

It was early evening before we reached our motel at Invercargill.  Two long days in a row, so we were tired but happy.

It was takeaway Chinese food for dinner, nice and easy 😊

Margaret.