For those who don’t know, Bluff is the southernmost mainland town in NZ. Only Stewart Island and a few smaller islands are further south before Antarctica.  it is also the oldest European settled community in NZ. We left T5 at the Camp and drove though typical south island wet and extremely windy, not to mention bone-chillingly cold weather to visit the well-known signpost at Stirling Point where I first posed in bike-riding gear 18 years ago, on that first memorable trip round NZ on the back of Dave’s Moto Guzzi. 

Stewart Island was only just visible in the distance. A submerged reef in between island and mainland showed its presence with a line of surf.

We repaired to the newish restaurant high above the point where we dined reasonably well in what was obviously a tourist-orientated rather than foodie-orientated establishment …. there was even a complimentary mussel beside my bowl of seafood chowder. It contained some large crunchy prawns, surely Australian? but the waiter didn’t know. People who know me know I detest the prawns-from-other-countries which are usually the only ones available in NZ, which has no native prawns apart from some freshwater ones up in the north island.   

Replete, we visited the Pilot Reserve which is a far more interesting part of Stirling Point in my opinion, with a darling little old lighthouse.

Originally the site of a whaling station, the Reserve was set aside for the Pilot Station and houses for the Harbour Master and Pilots – the latter a very important and responsible position.

Another sign explained that despite the assistance from the signal station, channel beacons, harbour master and pilots, all of which helped, .”… an average of two vessels a decade were lost until 1939, most of them small to medium coastal or fishing vessels.”

it was possible to walk right up to the lighthouse along a little gangway with the surf breaking on rocks practically underneath. 

At this point my camera ran out of battery power so the photos following are Dave’s. I did manage to get one more in, here’s Dave taking a photo for me – the remains of a stump which was probably once part of an older boardwalk.

In the distance was Tiwai Point:

To one side of the lighthouse was a little cove, once used by the whalers. What a place to build a house – yet with one exception all seemed relatively modest homes.

Driving back through Bluff, which is showing some signs of regeneration in terms of a few more modern shops, these old houses caught my attention. Also a mural on the side of a building. (Yes, the weather was deteriorating again).

We also stopped at a little cemetery just outside town. It looked like most of the inhabitants were Maori, with colourfully decorated graves. There is a special section there dedicated to mariners who died at sea. Some died  on other parts of the NZ coastline but their memorial is here. 

Back to Invercargill to get ready for the Clan Johnston/e “Meet and Greet”, preparatory for the AGM tomorrow morning, and other festivities.

This is being posted sitting in a little open courtyard near the caravan, the only place with WiFi access apart from the motel office, which is closed. We are not IN the motel, just camped in its grounds, with hot showers, toilets and a laundry available for modest fee. We are hooked up to power so can have the electric heater on all night if we wish!!

We are on the road again, heading for Invercargill for the Clan Johnston/e AGM and general festivities.  It’s been a while ….

First we had to find someone to look after Penny, a diabetic Oscar and Georgie. Kiwihomesitters came to the rescue, the first people to contact us turned out to be ideal. We met them for the first time a week ago and they immediately connected with the pets and vice versa. Phil was not fazed at the thought of giving Oscar his insulin injections. Thus reassured, plans for our departure forged ahead.

On the morning of our departure the last thing to be loaded into the caravan was of course the perishables,, and that’s where things came slightly unhinged. We drove off happily, thinking we had everything when in fact we had forgotten to load the bread and cheese (but we DID have wine!), a big bowl of fruit and the whisky and Canterbury Cream! All were ready and waiting. We also drove off with the caravan door open and our wonderful home sitter who waved us off immediately sent a text to warn us.

South went in the light rain until someway north of Oamaru when we turned off on the road to Kurow but stopped half way at a NZMCA camp at Aviemore. There was only one other caravan there. A herd of very curious cows welcomed us from the other side of a fence; but the time we had set up the caravan and I had grabbed my camera, more than half of them had wandered over to the fence to goggle at the strange vehicle – or was it people?

After setting up we disconnected the ute and drove to Oamaru for the missing perishables plus an extra hot water bottle. Which turned out to be very useful.

Next morning we made a late start and stopped off at Moeraki for coffee at the cafe overlooking the boulder-strewn beach. We did not have time to go right down to the boulders, a pity as it was low tide. Next time perhaps.

Past Dunedin (with a quick shot of the fabulous railway building plus the one opposite, both from the moving ute) we were getting hungry so stopped at a convenient rest stop, the first to appear for a very long time. We were munching away when a woman popped her head in the doorway and asked if we would mind talking about the caravan. It turned out she and her husband are thinking of buying one, and were seeking general information which Dave was happy to give.

The countryside in South East Otago, just north of the Catlins, is so very different from Central Otago.  Beautiful green rolling countryside. The weather was very changeable but I tried to take a few photos as we rolled along – nowhere to stop with a caravan to take photos.  The old bridge over the Clutha at Balclutha still the same, also the horses at Clinton, which barely got a glance. We arrived in Invercargill just before dusk and checked in at the Coachman Motel which offers good powered sites for caravans, also hot showers.

Tomorrow the Clan Johnston/e events start. Both Dave and I are Johnstons but not related, at least as far back as I can trace to the 1700s.