Bluff - the Southernmost Point

Tuesday 1 April

We tootled into Invercargill in search of coffee and op shops - found both, plus a bunch of cool murals. Somehow manages to buy a bag full of goodies from assorted op shops including jeans for Louis and a silver Molly Bracken jacket for me - oops!

On the map there was a McKeowns CardFuel station in Bluff (seriously discounted diesel) so we headed even further south and were a little gobsmacked to find ourselves on the causeway to the port, having to sign in with IDs (skipped the safety induction!) and driving to the edge of the harbour to find the one fuel pump there… then realising the reason there was only one nozzle on it was that the other nozzle was over the ledge, filling up a fishing boat! Craziest refuelling experience ever! Fortunately we only needed about $80 worth of diesel; when we left the fishing boat was at $1700 and still filling!

No point in visiting Bluff without seeing the sign and the most Southerly point in mainland NZ - so we grabbed a fish lunch from TJs Kitchen takeaway and ate it by the iconic signpost.

While we were there an older guy zoomed in on his bike - he’d just taken about 50 days to cycle all the way from Cape Reinga at the top of the North Island all the way down to Bluff at the bottom of the South Island! Had a lovely chat with him & his wife and took some pics for them, then also for a wee hobbit like fella who arrived from the Te Araroa trail having walked the length of the South Island. In awe but also bemused by the urge to dedicate so much time to these often long & lonely challenges.

From here we took a stroll along the Foveaux Walkway to see if we could get a little further south as it looked like Lookout Point was a degree or two lower... but that was a few Kms away so we headed back and checked out the giant anchor sculpture. The Anchor is a representation from the legend of Maui who fished up the North Island from his Waka, the South Island, which was anchored by Rakiura, Stewart Island. These giant chains disappeared into the ground as if they continued under the sea to the Island.

I recognised the bench - I wonder how many of them there are... dedicated to the people of New Zealand by the All Blacks rugby team to give thanks for all the support the team receives. We had a picnic on one of these in Nelson at the park where the first game of rugby was played in NZ.

Whilst Bluff was generally a little tired and lack lustre, particularly under grey skies, there is a mural programme called South Sea Spray which had commissioned assorted colourful wall paintings on the edges of old buildings which adds a spot of vibrancy.

Heading back towards Invercargill, I was struck by the fact that we were travelling along SH1 (see almost empty road above) which would be the equivalent of the M1 in the UK!!!

Back in Invercargill we swung by Louis’ dad, Russell’s home on Jenkins Street, grabbed a pie or two from the infamous Fat Bastard Pies (on everyone’s instruction), before checking out Queen’s Park & Burt Munro’s statue then heading home to Banjo.

Funnily enough, after posting the above pic on FB, all of Louis' relatives piled on to say this was the house next door to his grandparents' and dad's home - I had accidentally plugged the wrong house number into the map - doh!!! Guess we will just have to go back and find the real one!

Fat Bastard Pies had been recommended by so many people, so we couldn't miss out - Louis chose a hot steak & mushroom pie for now, and a cold Nude Seafood Pie to heat up for the next day... both were amazing.

The statue on the right above is in honour of Burt Munro - holder of the land speed record in 1967 - aged 68 and riding a modified 1920s Indian Scout motorbike

Check out the movie “The Worlds Fastest Indian” starring Anthony Hopkins - amazing story!