Friday, February 22, 2013

From the Commodore - Day 8

Awake early and just lay in bed and enjoyed being warm.

Dad in his usual rush (Let’s go, let’s go!) although he swore he wasn’t rushing me until I finally asked him what he’d just said and he replayed the tape in his head and went “Oh, I guess I am rushing you.”

Decided against going to Stewart Island off the south coast even though it sounds good but the ferry alone is $71 each  for a walk on ride similar to crossing Georgia Strait and then there are other fees on top of that (like entry fees and parking fees for the car).  I don’t need to see a kiwi in the wild that badly especially since there’s no guarantees of seeing one.

Drove out to Nugget Point to see the Royal spoonbill colony.  Unfortunately dad left both pairs of binoculars on the boat so couldn’t really see much from the cliff top.  Quite disappointing although the view was spectacular.  Stopped at a river estuary for lunch.  Drove through Owaka and picked up a few groceries.

Went to Purakaunui Falls and made the 10 minute walk up to see them.  Lots of lovely bird calls on the walk and interesting trees, some with metal plaques that were difficult to read.  Headed south along the windy highway and stopped again at Florence Point lookout, this time to see the blowhole cave on a little island just offshore of the point.  Finally left the area around 2 and drove to Invercargill at the centre of the south island.

Construction on the main highway through meant we missed the info centre and didn’t make a hotel reservation.  Stopped at a large grocery and got some gluten free bread and milk.  Headed back on the main street and had trouble finding our way north as there wasn’t any signage and we had no real map of the city even though it’s quite large.  Drove through a couple of small towns which either had no motels or one motel which was full.

Arrived in Lumsden around 6 and your dad was completely stressed out.  Got him to check into the Lumsden hotel for $40 for the night and we put our meat in their fridge.  We’ve got a double room with a shared bath but I’m fine with that as the room is clean.  Ate dinner in their cafĂ© which was quite tasty and filling.  I had chicken fried rice and your dad had teriyaki chicken.  The hotel is run by a Sri Lankan and an East Indian.  It’s on the main road but since the highway is not well travelled it should be quiet enough.  It’s almost a full moon tonight.

Heading to Haast on the west coast tomorrow and we have a reservation so should be less stressful than today.  It’s almost bedtime so I’ll send this off.  Hope you are all well.

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