NYE

I woke up with a sensitive tummy and regrettably had to pass on the amazing coffee. After some toast and lounging, we drove to Bluff est. 1824, the oldest town in New Zealand. It was used as a base for sealing and whaling for people from the US and UK. They nearly hunted seals until extinction which is when they turned to whaling. From the look out you can see Stewart Island, the third biggest island of New Zealand. Check the map, most foreigners don’t know that New Zealand is made up of 3 main islands and about 600 islands in total. There was a beautiful cafe at the south end of Bluff - Stirling Point - but they were booked out and walk-ins had to wait for an hour and half. We got take away coffee instead and walked down to Stirling Point.

We went to a suburb of Invercargill called Windsor for lunch and I tried to find a necklace at a shop in the same town but they have since stopped selling it as it is now in the big NZ department store, H&J Smith. We also tried to get Mike his favorite spring roll from a Chinese take away shop but that shop was also closed for the new year holidays.

To celebrate the New Year, we went with our friends to a beach town called Riverton, about 30 minutes west of Invercargill. We watched the kids launch water balloons at kids a couple of houses away which really was hilarious. We stopped by another NYE party a few doors down and played Otrio, a 3D version of tic tac toe but we tied every game. We went back to our friends parents house for dinner and by the time we finished up it was already 10pm and still light out. The kids had started making a bonfire on the beach and all the adults went down to join in the fun. I wasn’t feeling great so I watched tv and set my alarm for 11:55 to make sure I caught the fireworks before heading off to bed.Read more