Day 39

Woke up early to go to the pool. We had cereals and left. Esther had a good time in the sauna and cold pools, while Jack was enjoying the spa and I did my 1h laps. Felt great to have a shower and Esther kindly shared with me her shampoo and soap, as I forgot mine in the car… Back near Queens Park, we finally could visit the greenhouse (very pretty but so hot!) and the cactus house, the big bird cage, see better all the birds (poor little Kea all sad and that funny talking cockatoo) and enjoy the farm (Esther couldn’t make the wallabies move for a picture). We had a good lunch, starving since the pool and I got pasta and coffee from our new friend! (I got too much caffine!!) So nice! All filled up, we went for a quick look at the stumpery, lots of strange wood sculptures there. The weather was still changing but we kept hoping for some sun. As planned, we moved our bed into Esther’s van and took her in our car to avoid her to drive around in another car when we were all going to the same places. At the i-site, we learnt that the cruises for the 3rd island weren’t cheap at all and we saw few endangered lizards (looking like dinosaurs).

We went to the free pyramidal museum to see antic dresses, objects and technologies from the Victorian era. However we enjoyed more the natural sciences area with skeletons, rocks and extinct species. (sad!) Also a subarctic display. We piled back into Sue and drove south to Bluff, a peninsula below Invercargill. A spiral lookout led to Esther running head on into another tourist. Misreading signs led to us doing the full 2 hour circuit in Bluff Scenic Reserve. Sprinting on the downhills, dodging trees was a highlight. Heading back north was Green point reserve, a short walk with a ship graveyard. Following the directions from a helpful local, our last stop was The Three Sisters. The sisters (a bunch of hills) wasn’t amazing… but the walk was nice and we did some more sprints in the trees. We finished the day with Pizza, Chips and soft drink for dinner, then collected Esther’s van and drove back to the campground for the night.

Entree Written By Marianne and Jack