Bluff south of Invercargill

The drive to Queenstown was spectacular. We drive passed the other side of the lake between two mountains to Bluff via Invercargill, our next destination , a 3.5 hour drive. After the mountains the scenery became open farmland like so much of New Zealand with sheep of course.

Invercargill is not a tourist destination but appears prosperou; we stop to buy provisions and lunch. The buildings are original making for a pretty town center. Our hotel is outside of Bluff 20 minutes away. Spectacular scenery as we are follow the coast.

Our hotel is described as boutique, this really means small. Just five rooms. Beautifully situated overlooking the cliffs and ocean. Our very small room is no more than a meter wide and maybe 4m long it is however, comfortable. The owners are Chinese with little English and did not understand my need for non -feather bedding but we sorted that out with Google translate.

We are here for four nights and the hotel provides breakfast. Unfortunately no other meal is provided and Bluff offers little by way of food. Next door is a small cafe and providing you order early you can get dinner except on Mondays. Our meal was excellent. My journey of Central Otago Pinots continues, a very nice one cost $13.

Monday night Bluff is closed. The lady in the fish shop told us she would be open with fresh blue cod. The dinner plan was blue cod, fish and chips and a Toi Toi pinot. Alas she was not open, our only option was an Invercargill pub. Bob's research suggested the best was the Southern Tavern, not quite, both meals were less than ideal. The Pinot, $10 for a large glass and was pretty bad. Back in our room we drank the bottle of Toi Toi it was very nice.

There is a very pleasant walk around the clifftops from the hotel. We walk through bush and come across what turns out to be a wood pigeon (Kererū) which is a surprise because it's a very large bird and unlike our pigeons.

There's little to see in Bluff and we saw it all in the first 10 minutes of arriving. The buildings are old showing evidence of previous wealth. Although we are not really sure where that wealth came from. There is an aluminum smelter and for 6 months of the year oysters are harvested, out of season for us. Some buildings are used for processing and are well maintained. There's also interesting street art on many buildings.Read more