Day 17: Bluff To Te Anau

On day 17 we drove to the end / beginning of State Highway 1 to see the famous yellow sign.

According to this sign it’s 1401km from Bluff to Cape Reinga, but the sign at Cape Reinga said it was 51km longer. Interesting.

We stopped at The Lighthouse Gallery where we met a dog called Charlie and I bought a magnet.

In Invercargill we met the host of a podcast that I listen to.

I’ve been doing my podcast Coexisting With Nonhuman Animals for about two years now, I think. And it’s been going great. It’s just a simple podcast where I talk about animal rights stories in the news mainly.
Jordan Wyatt
Invercargill Vegan Society

I asked Jordan what he likes about living in Invercargill.

I love that we have nice weather. I like that we’re at the bottom of the world, I think that’s quite special. There’s not many other places that can claim to be further south than us - although damn South America. It’s a great place to live. It’s cheap to live here and I’ve lived here all my life so I wouldn’t be able to compare it to anywhere else, although I have visited other places before.

We went to the information centre in Invercargill to get a map so that we could find a supermarket. Then went to the supermarket. And we had lunch by Queen’s Park. Then we left Invercargill.

We drove through Lorneville and then headed towards Riverton or Aparima on State Highway 99. Both the English and Māori names of the town were on the sign. I don’t remember seeing that before.

We stopped in Aparima to go to Mrs Clark’s Cafe. But it was closed.

We left State Highway 99 briefly to check out a beach. Lots of people were having fun in the water. This is where we filmed the opening shot for this series. What a beautiful place. Another bilingual sign.

A bit later we followed a sign saying Monkey Island. Another stunning place. You can camp here for free too.

According to this sign, the island is named after a mechanical device. I don’t think there are any actual monkeys on Monkey Island, just people.

We stopped at McCracken’s Rest Lookout to have a look at the view and take a photo of another yellow sign.

In Tuatapere we stopped at Highway 99 Cafe.

Thank you very much.

OK. That’s all right. Thank you.

I wrote a postcard and sent it to the United States.

This is the turn off to Lake Hauroko, New Zealand’s deepest lake.

And this is the longest suspension bridge in New Zealand. It hasn’t been used since 1978.

We saw a recycling centre, so we stopped and thew away some rubbish.

I was surprised to see this Pearl Harbour sign. I didn’t know there was a Pearl Harbour in New Zealand.

This is Lake Te Anau - the largest lake in the South Island.

That night we stayed at Te Anau Great Lakes Holiday Park.