First stop for the day was Anderson Park, an impressive Georgian-style residence set in 24 hectares of landscaped gardens. The art on show in the house was of local New Zealand artists and is worth a look as well as the gardens and the Māori house located at the rear of the house.

90km from Invercargill is the lovely (and remote) Curio Bay. During the drive along the scenic route which takes you along the coast we stopped at Waipapa point to explore the beach which is home to seals and a lighthouse. Curio Bay has one hostel that we could see; along with a few guest houses and a camp ground located on the beach, no shops or ATM’s. In the trusty van we checked into the Curio Bay Camping Ground and at $8 each is great value.

The location is what you are paying for. The showers are fairly antiquated and the kitchen is the size of a shoebox but with a glorious bay famed for surfing and endangered Hector Dolphins to the left and a Jurassic period petrified fossil forest with Yellow-Eyed Penguins (arguably the rarest of penguin species) to the right what more could you want?

The petrified forest is 180 million years old and was once a forest of conifers which were buried by ancient volcanic mud flows and gradually replaced by silica to produce the fossils now exposed by the sea. We had fun exploring the rock and the rock pools as well as watching the rough sea swirling around the masses of kelp.

We returned to see the Yellow-Eyed penguins later in the evening and saw a few returning from their fishing trips. People are allowed to watch FROM A DISTANCE! But as usual, people / tourists get in the way of these rare animals to snap a photo or two or hundred and stop them from reaching their nests and young. It really drives both of us mad. If you do go please show some respect and keep your distance, most people do not and its such an infuriating thing to see.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We were up early and avoided the sand-flies by eating breakfast away from where we camped in the forest area. Today we were journeying to Invercargill, mainly to break up the drive to the Caitlens. We drove through more lush mountains ranged and started passing lots of sheep in the fields, something that Southland is famous for. Our first stop was at Colac Bay, famous for its surf and antarctic winds, which we felt straight away. The only nice thing going on was a wedding on the beach, it was a chilly day for this though and so we quickly got back in the van to continue on. Our next port of call was in Riverton where we had a little wander around the streets and drank chai at the Beach House Cafe, it was a good place for us to stop a while.

When we eventually got to Invercargill we were starting to get used to the cooler air but we happily hid in the van for lunch before going into the Southland Museum for a spot of culture. Its a free museum which is always a bonus and is home to New Zealand’s endemic reptile the Tuatara Lizard. They have around 25 at the museum with an area for each stage of their lives. Tuatara have been around for around 200 million years and the oldest there is around 111 years old and still reproductively active! Good going Henry!

So after we spectacled at the lizards we had a look at the art. There was some insightful imagery taken from one of New Zealand’s heroes Burt Munro along with some very cool block prints influenced by Maori and Polynesian culture.

When we left the museum we nipped up to the water-tower a place recommended to us by the I-Site staff saying it was open today so we must go up and have a look. In all fairness it was really quite good, the interior of the water-tower itself is very interesting and we were more than happy to photograph the views looking out across flat Invercargill.

As we were heading out of Invercargill we had a look at the town and then decided to camp out towards the Beach Road Holiday Park close to Oreti Beach. We thought they offered a really good price for their facilities at $11 each and the owners were very friendly even though the lady at the I-Site said this place was a little…rough! So we enjoyed a good evening here along with some wine and some nice food cooked in their canteen style kitchen.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)