The next week of our great adventure started out at a lake at the southern end of Fiordland National Park. On Wednesday March 13th we made our way off the beaten path to a little campground. There we met a nice barefoot dread locked hippie fellow who joined us in conversation about the hydro dam nearby and watched the other camper vans pull in for the night. Since we were a bit tired of canned soup or Ramen noodles we splurged for the night and decided to make hamburgers. As it is one of New Zealand’s driest years in some time, there is a fire ban pretty much everywhere, so in order to make the burgers we experimented with the smoker. Tony smoked the beef, fried up some bacon, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and fried eggs, while I sliced avocados and heated up some “American” baked beans. The burgers were a pretty good success, but a unanimous decision was made to use less manuka wood on the next run, otherwise they were delicious. The baked beans however were far from American, but the Heinz 57 (costing $6 a bottle) was a breath of fresh air on our colossal burgers from the Wattie’s the Kiwi’s love. I guess it the simple things that you just can’t quit.
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| Monkey Island |
The next day we arrived at the Southern Coast. Our first stop along the route was a camping area called Monkey Island. This was a free campground along the beach that had a very unique island hill that you could reach during low tide. Luckily that evening was a perfect time to climb up the island steps to take in the sun kissed coastline and look for shells. We woke up to a rainy morning, but thankfully there was a little covered shelter and we were able to cook some delicious breakfast tacos before making our way to Invercargill. This is the largest town that we have been in since early January, with a population of 50,000+, but we were able to make due just fine. Our first goal was to get a brake light bulb and have the oil changed. We found an auto part store and took our trusty van to a drive through oil place. After only 30 minutes and $74 we had our van back and ready to go. Back in Alexandra we had 3 price quotes that an oil change would range from $110-$140 and involved dropping off the car, so this price was fine by us. We stopped by a famous hardware store that hold’s a car/auto museum in the back, including “the world’s fastest Indian.” This is an Indian motorcycle from the 1920’s that still holds several speed records for the engine size. Burt Munroe the mechanic/driver of this machine was from Invercargill and one of their claims to fame. If you haven’t seen the movie, I recommend adding it to your Netflix list. Tony needed to go the Hunting and Fishing NZ store so he could get some fishing access maps, of course. There we met Jeff, who is a bit younger than myself, and a fellow American living in NZ with his Kiwi partner (girlfriend). Tony started talking fly fishing with him and he sent us on our way to a free campground and some good fishing spots, but not without exchanging numbers. Tony was able to walk away with at least one fish from the river, but I was not so lucky. Jeff texted that evening to invite us to a housewarming BBQ the next day, as I have said the people here are the friendliest I have ever met.
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| Sign along the coast in Bluff |
Saturday morning we woke up and drove down to Bluff, where we took a few pics and quickly tried to avoid the rain. Back in town we found ourselves a nice little campground and finally had another hot shower for the trip. The baby wipes (or “not so handy” wipes as I deemed them) which are really just like wet sandpaper can only go so far. We picked up some cider and made our way to the BBQ, which was yet another wonderful experience on our trip. The majority of Jeff’s friends are fly fishing men and most of the girls are nursing students (with art degree backgrounds) and people from all over including NZ, Ireland, South Africa, Belgium, England, and Holland. We had venison, crayfish (lobster), and paua shell (abalone) for starters and sausages, chicken, and a variety of amazing salads for dinner. The food was great, but the company was even better.
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| Gore, “Brown Trout Capital of the World” |
The next morning we headed East along the coast to the southern portion of the Mataura River where Tony was to meet a fishing friend of one of our co-workers in Alexandra. When Lindsay arrived they set out to fish and I went into the little town of Gore, deemed Brown Trout capital of the world, to use the internet and relax. As it was Sunday in NZ, everything was closed, save one lonely coffee shop and the McDonald’s. I found my way to the golden arches, ordered a coffee and spinach/feta muffin (which are not bad I must say) and plugged in for my free half our of internet time. I picked up a rotisserie chicken from the store and made my way back to our free campground. Tony was lucky enough to catch one trout on the river that day, despite the misty rain, even if he did use a borrowed fly. He thinks he made a friend for life, since Lindsay may just love fly fishing as much as he does. We camped along this river for 2 nights and then it was off along the Southern scenic route through the Catlins.
