Today we awoke to some bad news - the weather forecast was for rain later in the day, and a lot of it. Now I know that the locals cannot wait for the rain but I am on holiday and I don't want it going colder and raining!
So to make the most of it before the rain comes we set off on th 30km dive to Bluff (known for its oysters) - the first European settlement in New Zealand and the furthest point south that you can get in New Zealand's South Island. It seemed somewhat bizzare standing there in shorts with temperatures in the mid 20'sC and only being about 3k miles from the South Pole!
There are some quite spectacular views around here and you can go up to Bluff Lookout for views of the surrounding area. Now going up to Bluff Lookout without oxygen is not recommended as it is one of the longest and steepest hill that I have seen, and NZ has many of those. We took the lazy route - we went up by car.
After a couple of hours walking some of the trails around the coast we then headed back to Invercargill for some lunch and a rest before the next day's adventure - oh, and to keep out of the impending rain.
The forecast was not wrong - it did start to rain later in the afternoon.