A Short Trip South

The next stop on the tour was the southern city of Invercargill, New Zealand's southernmost and westernmost city. With a population of roughly 50 000, about half that of Dunedin, Invercargill is not particularly big or even well-visited. It is used as a stopping point for trips along the Southern Scenic Highway and to Stewart Island, a largish landmass off the coast of the South Island. However, Invercargill has recently gained some fame from the movie The World's Fastest Indian starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. It's the story of a man from Invercargill who went to the United States on his modified Indian motorcycle and set a world land speed record. Invercargill has made the most of its recent exposure and there is a display about the man in the local museum.

The trip down south, about 3 hours was much shorter than the trip from Christchurch to Dunedin. While the scenery wasn't as spectacular there were still some points of interest. In case anyone was unaware of the area's European residents' roots, the towns had names like Dunedin, Invercargill, Milton, Balclutha, Stirling, Glenham, Glenavy and Gore. Some of the sights along the way were the Clutha River, named after the Gaelic name of the Clyde River in Scotland. This is one of New Zealand's major rivers and it was running quite full as we passed over it. Also, there is a stretch of road known as the Presidential Highway since it passes between the settlements of Clinton and Gore, both only 44 kilometers from each other. When Bill Clinton and Al Gore visited New Zealand, they passed along this route and even presented the citizens of Waipahi with an American flag. That American flag along with that on New Zealand still fly at a marker along the highway. Just as a side note, Gore is considerably larger than Clinton and I'm still waiting for them to build the Lewinsky By-pass.

My brother and I arrived in Invercargill in the early evening and did some quick exploring before going to our hostel. We walked by Queen's Park and made our way to the water tower, a building built in the 1880s and now a city landmark; it also still serves its original purpose. The one thing I noticed about Invercargill was the wind. Despite the sun, any warmth was taken away by the fresh gusts from the south. Invercargill sits right within the Roaring Forties and not too far from the Furious Fifties, bands of latitude known for their fierce winds. Nonetheless, by day's end both my brother and I were anxious to see what this antipodean city had to offer.