Here's the final update from NZ (being uploaded in Sydney) covering Invercargill, Dunedin and Christchurch.
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Following a couple of action packed weeks we disembarked our bus at Invercargill, the southernmost city in the world, and home to the world's fastest Indian. Most people coming to Invercargill just spend the night before taking an early ferry to Stewart Island, and after spending two whole days in Invercargill I don't blame them for shooting through!
The city has a very low skyline, making it feel a lot larger than it actually is - this size illusion also has the effect of making Invercargill feel empty. Most of the shops we walked by were closed or about to shut down and besides the handful of backpackers there didn't seem to be that many young people out and about.
The main attraction / time killer in Invercargill has to be the museum annexed to the visitor's centre. Its got a nice series of displays on Maori culture, a bit of Invercargill settler history and an extensive display on the sports disciplines practiced in the Otago region. The sports section also has some interesting videos about Burt Munro, also known as the World's Fastest Indian. For those who haven't heard of him, or watched the movie starring Anthony Hopkins, Burt Munro was a speed demon and motorcycle enthusiast who bought an Indian motorcycle in 1929 and raced it in various events until late in the 1970s, modifying and casting custom made parts in his garage. He even took part in the Isle of Man TT once! His claim to fame, and the title of the World's Fastest Indian, were achieved in the salt flats of the American heartland where he broke his own land speed record three times, always in this garage modified 1929 Indian motorcycle.
The highlight of the visitor's centre has to be the Tuatara display. The Tuatara is NZ's largest lizard, and has been around since Gondwanaland broke up to form the southern continents of Australia, Antarctica, S. America and NZ. It is very hard to see the Tuatara in the wild as it has all but disappeared from the mainland due to predation from introduced pests. The "thriving" populations are to be found on predator free offshore islands that are hard to reach unless you are a DOC employee or volunteer, so the terrarium in Invercargill gives the casual traveller a chance to see this prehistoric lizard.
Behind the Museum/Visitor's Centre you'll find Queen's Park, a large recreational area featuring a fitness track, golf course and plenty of grassy areas excellent for picnics in the sunshine.
Dunedin
The penultimate stop on our tour of New Zealand was Dunedin, originally a Scottish settlement (Dunedin is the celtic name for Edinburgh) and the largest city in New Zealand during the Otago Gold Rush. Nowadays it ranks as the fifth city of NZ and is home to Otago University, giving it a very lively, young feeling - a welcome change from sleepy Invercargill! The Otago region is sports mad, the local stadium is called the "House of Pain" and everything from buses to street signs comes in the team colours of Gold and Blue.
There's plenty to do in and around Dunedin - lots of window shopping in the city, a Settler's Museum, Chinese gardens, and plenty of sports in the bay as well as walking and nature watching in Otago Peninsula, where at the right time of year you can see dolphins, seals, penguins and albatross.
While in Dunedin we were staying just outside the city in Leith Valley on a lifestyle block - i.e. a small farm of less than 30 acres. Our hosts Ellen and Raymond (parents of Arwel, a friend we met in the Isle of Man) juggle full time jobs with tending bees for Manuka honey, looking after a clutch of free range hens and a few sheep. Being a city boy myself I was keen to lend a hand and experience life on the farm. Tasks included chopping wood for the fire (hard work if you don't get the swing just right), building a dirt bridge over a stream (can't take all the credit for this one, all I did was cart a few wheelbarrow-fulls of soil to the stream) and harvesting the beehives and spinning out their delicious honey. Wwoofing (willing-work-on-organic-farm) is a nice way of getting in touch with your rural self, and I think the NZ experience would not be complete without a taste of farm life. It helps you appreciate the hard work that goes into the fried egg you had for breakfast, or the aromatic Manuka honey you spread on your toast.
There's plenty of easy walking to be done in Leith Valley when its not raining, with plenty of native birds providing a soothing soundtrack as you walk beneath the trees. Blackberries were in season so we also had snacks at arm's length along our walk. There's nothing quite as tasty as a juicy blackberry picked fresh off the hedge on a warm sunny day!
An hour's drive north of Dunedin are the unique Moeraki Boulders - giant rock marbles on a long sandy beach, as if the gods abandoned a game of bowls half-way when the tide came in. There's plenty of photo-fun to be had on the beach with the great orbs, and you can get your feet wet if you're not careful, as the tide rolls in right up to the sandstone cliffs. Its the action of the waves and wind on these cliffs that creates the boulders - they are pockets of hard rock in the softer surroundings that are worn away at a much slower rate than the sandstone.
Christchurch
From Dunedin its a five hour drive to Christcurch, the largest city on the South Island and the most "English" of all places in New Zealand. Originally a Church of England colony, Christchurch was meant to be "like Oxford, only much more English and gentlemanly" - no common riffraff could settle here, it was a city reserved for the English gentry, at least in the early years. As the town grew and gold was discovered in the vicinity more down-to-earth settlers started coming in, giving Christcurch the diverse feel it has today. There are still many touches of Britishness - from the Anglican cathedral in Cathedral Square to the punts gliding along the Avon River and the Victorian era electric trams doing the city circuit.
Hageley Park and the Botanic Gardens are the lungs of the city, with plenty of space for peaceful walks and relaxation away from the hustle and bustle of the central part of town.
The coast is only a short bus-ride away with plenty of things to make you get wet - swimming, surfing, kayaking and sailing; as well as airborne adventures like paragliding. Our walk along Scarborough head gave us fantastic views of Christchurch with a backdrop of snowy Southern Alps and seaside Sumner in the foreground.
Our stay in Christchurch has been pretty sedate, we've done plenty of strolling around the city and a bit of window shopping - Justyna and I are recharging our batteries as we're about to board a plane for Australia, where we start the second part of our adventure.
This brings to an end two months in New Zealand, enough time to see the highlights, to get a sweet taste for what the country has to offer. The South Island definitely deserves more time in any NZ itinerary than the North Island, there's a lot more to see and do, especially if you like the outdoors. If you don't have the luxury of spending two months in NZ, then I'd suggest you rent a car. Having your own wheels means you can do more in one day - with the added bonus of getting to see the sights that are inaccessible with public transport.
Stay tuned for the next update, coming to you from Sydney, Australia!
