Southern sojourn

It was our 49th wedding anniversary so my GKB and I decided to have a weekend away. We packed the car up and headed south to Invercargill. We left about mid morning and as it's only a 3-4 hour drive, depending on how many stops you make, we were there in good time. After we'd booked into our motel we decided to take a drive out to Bluff where we lived for a couple of years early on in our marriage. Our two youngest kids were born while we were living here.
 

Bluff Harbour from the lookout on Bluff Hill

 We only had a quick look around as there was a cold wind blowing, but we did go up to where we once owned a section to see whether it had been built on at all. We were interested to see that none of the sections available back then had houses on them. On our way back we called in to the new K Mart on the outskirts of the city. Twice the size of the one we have up here. There is a lot of building happening there just now, it'll be interesting to see what the cityscape looks like in a years time.

Across the road from our motels was a large water tower that was once the town water supply. It is quite an impressive building and looks even more impressive when lit up at night. 

Built in 1898 it provided the city with it's first pressurised water supply. Unfortunately you can't go inside because it needs to have work done to bring it up to earthquake standard.

The next day dawned cool and with quite a brisk wind, so we dressed up warmly and headed to the Transport Museum, one of the reasons we had gone down there. I won't write about it here as it deserves a post of it's own.
 

Part of one of the sheds

After lunch we decided to go to Riverton, a seaside fishing port. When we lived here I'd only been once and was surprised at how far it was out of town and it also struck me how much prettier this port was than Bluff. It was a pleasant drive through farming country and then around little bays on the coast. Although it was still overcast it had warmed up considerably, enough for people to be out swimming, surfing and boogie boarding.

 After a drive and look around we had a nice afternoon tea at a little 70's style cafe and headed back to town after an enjoyable day out.

And I'll finish there, 

so until next time, 

Diana

Southland leftovers

While we were up on Bluff Hill a few weeks a few weeks ago I came across this old piece of broken down machinery. Apparently it is what is left of the radar that was used during WWII to keep watch on the South Coast for invaders. There is an information board about it but the photo I took isn't very good, and I can't read it :( 

It will soon be well overgrown I think as I had to clamber through undergrowth and climb on broken concrete to take these photos. 

A shame really. I hate seeing historic pieces disappear.

You may remember me saying how cold and windy it was on top of the hill and we decided to go and have a hot drink somewhere. We ended up back in the city and although it was still a bit blustery it wasn't quite as cold. We found a nice little coffee bar in a mall and had our lunch. We sat at a window table and the sun beamed in and warmed us up to the extent that we were soon taking layers off and sitting in our shirt sleeves.

I like this snap of my GKB as he didn't know I'd taken it

 and is quite relaxed and natural, checking out the sports pages.

I like looking at the architecture of bygone times and this building just down from our hotel caught my eye. I really like the detail on the outside of the building, so unusual to my eye. I would have liked to take more pics but was standing in the middle of a traffic island when I looked up and took this so thought perhaps I'd better move.

Wishing you all a happy week,

Diana

A flying visit

At the beginning of the week we decided it was time to have a break away for a couple of days so we set off later in the week and headed south. Back to Southland where we lived when we were first married. This is where two of our babies were born and life was happy and uncomplicated. Life is still happy but a bit more complicated but I guess that happens with age and families. We booked accommodation in Invercargill, very comfortable serviced apartments just out of the CBD - everything within walking distance, shops, theatres, cafes etc.

We took a drive down to Bluff, which was where we had actually lived. Bluff is the port that services Invercargill and Southland. It is summer but it was a cold, blustery, squally day. The photo above is me standing at the signpost at Stirling Point between squalls. Hundreds of people head here to get their photo's taken under the signpost, we took some for an Indian family and there were Chinese tourists there as well. 

My GKB taking photos of the lighthouse across the harbour mouth.

This is the lighthouse on Dog Island, one of the tallest in the country and it guards the entrance to Bluff harbour.

Both of us had only ever been up to the top of Bluff Hill once and that was many moons ago, so we decided it was time for another look. On one side you could see the road back to Invercargill with a small wind farm in the centre left of the picture. I was quite amazed as I didn't realise what a narrow isthmus connected Bluff to the rest of the South Island. That is the harbour on the right and Foveaux Strait on the left. The wind farm is above Foveaux Strait. The small cluster of buildings in the centre is the abattoir or meat works, or 'the works' as they are known in New Zealand.

Turning to the left you look out over Foveaux Strait and on a good day you can just make out Stewart Island/Rakiura.  This was not a good day and that is not Stewart Island/Rakiura in the mist and cloud.

I decided to walk up to the top of the lookout and left my GKB behind. Boy it was breezy. I was almost blown over at the top and had a hard time keeping my balance, hence one very bad picture of Bluff taken in a great hurry. My hands were white by the time I got back down to the car, the wind comes straight up from the antarctic with only Stewart Island in between. Slightly cold and gloves in the car :) Time for us to head back down the hill and find somewhere for a hot drink.

I hope you've enjoyed my little nostalgic trip back into my past and weren't too bored. I must say we enjoyed it :)