Invercargill Part 2

On Sunday morning we had a nice long breakfast and hangout chatting before we started our day. It was the first day the whole trip I slept past 630am. A nice solid 8am. After a re-organization of my stuff and breakfast we headed out. First stop was a gypsy fair. It was AWESOME! The caravans were so elaborate and made with such care. I just couldn't stop looking at all the detail and the people and their wares. It was a great way to start the day.


The Tuatara was our next stop. It basically a dinosaur and it is really really famous and almost became extinct. They created a breading program at this one museum in Invercargill and it is flourishing. The animal itself looks like an iguana only with a longer spikey tail and dark brown.

After a nice walk through Queens Park, great trees, we were off to Bluff. Bluff is one of the southern most points of the South Island. You get a great view of Steward Island from the top of the hill. They also took me to the new Marae in town. It is the Maori meeting house. We just looked from outside because we weren't invited and didn't have an appointment and protocol is strict. I felt weird even looking at it from the street. It was really interesting, tons of carvings. 

From Bluff we went for a walk in the bush with possibly the most interesting trees I have ever seen. They are buried in sand up to the branches and they are still about 50 feet tall. They are about 800 years old. They have found that the trunk under the earth in the sand is just as tall as the tree above ground. They are not sure how it happened but this whole forest is that way. I was in heaven in there. I could have stayed the rest of the day. We were in there for quite a while just enjoying the ancient blissful energy. I was so happy for their company and for them sharing that place with me. It was so special.




Oreti Beach was our next stop. It is one of the southern most beaches. It is literally next stop Antarctica. The ends of the earth. The light was pretty interesting down there and the sun wasn't setting but it was winter sun and some nice clouds. They drive on the beach there and there were people just playing up and down the beach at the end of the day, enjoying. It was a great last stop on a fantastic day.

I can't thank Judy and Sucheta enough. They really took care of me, and added so much to my trip. I felt so welcomed and at home. They were so generous with everything. The places they brought me were so special and I thoroughly enjoyed their company. I was so sad to leave them.


Sawrah

No comments:

Post a Comment