Transport of delights through Aotearoa New Zealand Part II The South

Invercargill

Invercargill was a step down in temperature, sunniness and mood. Three hours door to door, we could not fault Catch-a-Bus, but there is something about Invercargill … We stayed near to the beautiful Queen’s Park where, if you have time and a frisbee or two, there is a cool-looking frisbee golf course with clear directions. (Also to be found in the Queenstown gardens by the lake.)

Invercargill. Undergoing improvements
Invercargill. Undergoing improvements

There was an upside! The main reason (for me!) to visit Invercargill was Dig This, the biggest sandpit for adults in the southern hemisphere. My son and I each got to play on our own 15-ton digger.

My son in the other digger doing a 'handstand' at Dig This, Invercargill
My son in the other digger doing a ‘handstand’ at Dig This, Invercargill

Colin, our teacher, spoke to us via ear sets and we followed his clear instructions to dig a hole and move around, do a handstand and play basket-ball, picking up the ball from the top of a traffic cone and placing it, carefully, into a pile of tyres. Spinning the cabin while moving along is completely stupid but wonderful. This ridiculous mayhem was the original brainchild of another Kiwi who started the diggers rolling in Las Vegas. So, Vegas or Invercargill, do not worry about burning the diesel – no one else does. Sustainability? Bah.

Invercargill Transport Museum is huge
Invercargill Transport World is huge

Apparently the biggest seller in Invercargill is The Agression Session, where you learn how to handle the digger and then smash up a car. We didn’t do that. But you might?

Afterwards we were so hungry we had to go to Grille, the café at Transport World a few hundred metres down the road. We sat in the 50s style lounge and felt right at home.

Invercargill's Transport Museum themed dining room
Invercargill’s Transport Museum themed dining room

I felt a need to visit this museum as I feel responsible to keep you up to date with all the transport I encounter on my way. It’s a huge place. We enjoyed a game of pool on a VW and the themed toilets are also worth a visit. They even have a cinema where we hunkered down to watch NZ’s Pork Pie, the remake of the related Goodbye Pork Pie.

Invercargill's Transport Museum has some trucks - amongst others!
Invercargill’s Transport Museum has some trucks – amongst others!

Not my usual outing, the museum has an example of every Ford ever made – bar one – and I bet the people who own that have their eyes on the waiting buyer!

My father used to create advertising for Shell in the fifites - wonder if this is his work?
My father used to create advertising for Shell in the fifites – wonder if this is some of his work?

After perusing the shiny vehicles, including trucks, buses and caravans, we had lunch in the 60s style kitchen (fourth-edition Edmonds Cookbook).

Felix shows how things used to be in Transport World
Felix shows how things used to be in Transport World

Then we meandered up to the Invercargill I-site to buy our next tranche of tix. Next stop, a place I’d long wanted to visit.

Stewart Island

In order to leave the South Island one needs to get to Bluff, the tippy tip of the bottom of the below of the big island.

Stewart Island ferry at Bluff Wharf
Stewart Island ferry at Bluff Wharf

The ferry to Stewart Island, across Foveaux Strait, was efficient and painless (weather conditions may apply).

Leaving the South Island behind - bye bye Bluff!
Leaving the South Island behind – bye bye Bluff!

There were a gaggle of birdos (you might know them as twitchers) with green outfits and long lenses onboard. A man with an eyepatch confused me for one of the gang and swept me into the group with eager instructions to look over there. Happy to oblige.

Captain of our Stewart Island ferry
Captain of our Stewart Island ferry

We saw an albatross and penguins.

Paua shells at Oban beach, Stewart Island
Paua shells at Oban beach, Stewart Island

We stayed at Oban in a delightful backpackers where we could cook. There are more kiwis than people on Stewart Island. Apparently a kiwi came to visit the drinkers outside our hostel at 23:15 pm, even obligingly pecking at Guillermo’s boots. This was sad news for those folk who had covered their torches and phone lenses with red plastic and spent most of the chilly night walking over the hills searching fruitlessly. (Picture kiwis sniggering behind a tree fern.)

Heading into Oban harbour
Heading into Oban harbour

Stewart Island is a haven for hunters, fishers and shellfishers. Although it was heavily logged in the wild colonial days it is now known as a peaceful National Park. One of NZ’s famous Great Walks is the three-day Rakiura Track and my son and I have a dream to return. There is another, longer, more remote track – the North-West Circuit – for strong, fit people that brings rewards of wonderful untouched landscapes and secret beaches.

Oban harbour, Stewart Island
Oban harbour, Stewart Island
Local shop in Oban advertising the essentials
Local shop in Oban advertising the essentials

Ulva Island

We caught the 10am ferry and spent the day wandering the pathways of this magical place.

Ulva Island ferry
Ulva Island ferry

Predator free, weed free, never been logged – only a few interloping macrocapas and eucalypts guarded as historic remnants from a farming past are never allowed to set seed – Ulva Island is renowned as a bird sanctuary.

Looking back to Stewart Island from Ulva
Looking back to Stewart Island from Ulva

We did not need to wander far as a kind of overture of birds swelled over us, greeting us to the island. We saw all the birds listed on the informative leaflet, apart from a rifleman (which Guillermo said he saw but he had no evidence of the encounter and we were starting to doubt Guillermo). If you have time and patience to sit and wait for the battle of the strongest toutouwai (robin) then I strongly urge you to visit this lovely place.

Toutouwai - Stewart Island Robin - so inquisitive
Toutouwai – Stewart Island Robin – so inquisitive

This was not a strenuous outing by any means. You could rest on one of the many benches and the birds go about their business regardless. We spotted a fantail nearby on a branch. Then we realised this was really two fluffy babies nestled together in the cutest manner.

lunch time spot on Ulva Island - take a picnic and watch for seals
lunch time spot on Ulva Island – take a picnic and watch for seals

A mother and baby – NZ fur seals – claimed the best spot on the beach where we had our lunch. We were happy to walk a little further around the corner to give them some privacy. Also, because we knew they’d win a fight should they choose to engage with us.

The entire day was filled with glimpses of beauty, encounters with bird life and curious plants. There was a little nature walk with labelled flora so you could get familiar with megastars like matai, rimu and totara.

Now, that's a proper ship's wheel on the ferry to Ulva Island, Southland
Now, that’s a proper ship’s wheel on the ferry to Ulva Island, Southland

One must take care of the ferry ticket, handwritten on a muttonbird leaf, once used for correspondence as a matter of course in these parts, as it is your way back to Stewart Island. If you can bring yourself to leave this fairy land.

4 thoughts on “Transport of delights through Aotearoa New Zealand Part II The South

    • Thank you, Red Bag will Travel,

      So grateful you found the time! I hope the post will prove useful. So many tourists travelling through NZ miss a lot of the country by flying or self-driving when they could be kicking back, relaxing and watching the dolphins dance!

Please leave a comment - would you travel this way??