From Invercargill (Amble On Inn Holiday Park) to Curio Bay Campground - about 90kms or 56 miles. Amble On Inn etc is a pretty good campsite, etc, since the kitchen is very comfy and it was with some reluctance that we finally got on the road and headed, initially, for the New World supermarket to get some money out since the next few days probably won't have any cash machines and using credit cards is a more expensive way (min charges apply) of paying for most things. Then out on State Highway 92 against the wind - for the next 40+ kms to Fortrose. The wind was a force 4-5 east north easterly. Fortrose arrived and with no sign of a shop just a cafe. We chatted to two NZ girls who were deciding whether to do the gravel road to Curio Bay (shorter but likely to be slower, possibly even a walk sometimes) or the inland route - windier but all tarmac so with our bikes likely to be faster. They chose the shorter but gravel route - they are on mountain bikes - and we chose the inland route because we hoped to find a shop along the way for our evening meal and some milk. It would probably be faster for us with our narrow tyres. Then on via Tokanui (shop and cafe so we drank tea and ate cake, and stocked up with pasta, sauce and the like). Then on to Waikawa where the Blue Cod Blues chip van fed us on very impressive Blue Cod and chips. Blue Cod is the local variant of cod and we couldn't see any difference - lovely white fish. Fish and chips for $6 each (about £3) seems like a good deal. Just before the turning to Waikawa Guy's rear wheel gave an unhealthy twang and the wheel distorted sufficiently to rub against the rear stayof his bike. A spoke had broken though the bike was not specially heavy (unlike the six pack of Macs Wheat Beer I was carrying when my own wheel lost several spokes). I think we will be having a day in Curio Bay area tomorrow. There seems to be a great deal of wildlife worth seeing. Nice museum buildings - though shut at 6pm when we arrived. Also a rather elegant white colonial style chapel impressed us. Curious how churches in NZ don't usually have graveyards around them (neither did this one). Cemetries are usually out on their own. Finally to Curio Bay (we wll try to find out what the curio is - could be the local petrified trees - ancient trees that have become, over thousands of years, stone). We set up camp at the Curio Bay camping. A fairly basic campground but with a very useful shop and a rather idyllic position on a headland between two bays. But the kitchen is tiny and the place is a bit skimpy on toilets and showers (i.e. there aren't many). It is still breezy so the tent is flapping about as I write but it is lovely to fall asleep to the sound of the sea. There is a real land's end feel to the area - especially since in every direction except north there are thousands of miles of ocean - Antartic south, South America east, Africa west.
From Invercargill (Amble On Inn Holiday Park) to Curio Bay Campground - about 90kms or 56 miles. Amble On Inn etc is a pretty good campsite, etc, since the kitchen is very comfy and it was with some reluctance that we finally got on the road and headed, initially, for the New World supermarket to get some money out since the next few days probably won't have any cash machines and using credit cards is a more expensive way (min charges apply) of paying for most things. Then out on State Highway 92 against the wind - for the next 40+ kms to Fortrose. The wind was a force 4-5 east north easterly. Fortrose arrived and with no sign of a shop just a cafe. We chatted to two NZ girls who were deciding whether to do the gravel road to Curio Bay (shorter but likely to be slower, possibly even a walk sometimes) or the inland route - windier but all tarmac so with our bikes likely to be faster. They chose the shorter but gravel route - they are on mountain bikes - and we chose the inland route because we hoped to find a shop along the way for our evening meal and some milk. It would probably be faster for us with our narrow tyres. Then on via Tokanui (shop and cafe so we drank tea and ate cake, and stocked up with pasta, sauce and the like). Then on to Waikawa where the Blue Cod Blues chip van fed us on very impressive Blue Cod and chips. Blue Cod is the local variant of cod and we couldn't see any difference - lovely white fish. Fish and chips for $6 each (about £3) seems like a good deal. Just before the turning to Waikawa Guy's rear wheel gave an unhealthy twang and the wheel distorted sufficiently to rub against the rear stayof his bike. A spoke had broken though the bike was not specially heavy (unlike the six pack of Macs Wheat Beer I was carrying when my own wheel lost several spokes). I think we will be having a day in Curio Bay area tomorrow. There seems to be a great deal of wildlife worth seeing. Nice museum buildings - though shut at 6pm when we arrived. Also a rather elegant white colonial style chapel impressed us. Curious how churches in NZ don't usually have graveyards around them (neither did this one). Cemetries are usually out on their own. Finally to Curio Bay (we wll try to find out what the curio is - could be the local petrified trees - ancient trees that have become, over thousands of years, stone). We set up camp at the Curio Bay camping. A fairly basic campground but with a very useful shop and a rather idyllic position on a headland between two bays. But the kitchen is tiny and the place is a bit skimpy on toilets and showers (i.e. there aren't many). It is still breezy so the tent is flapping about as I write but it is lovely to fall asleep to the sound of the sea. There is a real land's end feel to the area - especially since in every direction except north there are thousands of miles of ocean - Antartic south, South America east, Africa west.