Well – www.metservice.com finally got the forecast right (unfortunately). I woke up at 3:00 a.m. to the sound of rain on the roof, and the van periodically shaking side-to-side due to wind gusts. I was able to fall back asleep, and I awoke again at 7:08 a.m. – seven minutes before the alarm went off. This is a good thing, as the alarm tone on the phone is pretty frenetic and it really jolts me awake.
It was still raining, so I plodded over to the ablutions block (that’s what they call the toilet and shower building in New Zealand) to start the morning routine. SURPRISE – the toilet and shower building is HEATED; this is the first heated ablutions block I’ve encountered, and it makes getting cleaned up a lot more pleasant in the morning.
It had stopped raining, so I went back to the van to get dressed, and convert the van from sleeping to travel mode. Then I grabbed my breakfast supplies and went over to the kitchen to eat: Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats with Black Currant filling, milk, tea, and a slice of buttered toast. I finished packing up and headed out at 9:30 a.m.
Although the turn for Bluff on SH 1 was just past my campground, I headed toward Invercargill to fuel up. After buying fuel, I backtracked toward Bluff as it started to rain; 26 km later, I was passing through Bluff on my way to Stirling Point – the end of the road. If Invercargill is the “big city” at the south end of the island, it might be analogous to Chicago, whereas Bluff is like East Chicago or Hammond: a lot of industry, and the type of town where people look like they work hard to make things.
I arrived at Stirling Point, in the rain, at 10:35 a.m. It was raining fairly at the time, and since this was one of my goals for the trip, I thought I’d wait the weather out, or until 11:00, whichever came first. Well, at 11:00, it was still raining in earnest, so I pushed my deadline back to 11:30. Finally, at 11:20, a second car of visitors arrived, and they got out of their car to take pictures. So I donned the rain jacket from my motorcycle gear and my stocking cap, and got out for my visit.
Here I am; closer to the South Pole than to the equator by 323 km, and 15,008 km from New York (and probably not much closer to Saint Charles) if you can believe the AA (Automobile Association of New Zealand). The rain kept falling, and I could get about three photos before either the lens would get wet or the camera body would be so wet I was worried about having it quit on me. In either case, I’d dodge over to the campervan to dry it off.
I departed Stirling Point, and started heading north – toward home! – at noon, with my pants legs thoroughly soaked down to my knees, as well as my socks. I drove back to Invercargill and stopped at the library to file yesterday’s blog and call home. The Internet connection at the library was slow on both uploads and downloads, and it took me almost 40 minutes to post the blog. I spent the rest of the hour I had purchased calling home, where my son Josh was recharging my well tank at home, “Tanks” a lot, Frank!
Leaving Invercargill northbound on SH 6, I was headed toward either Te Anau and the mountains of Fiordland on the west coast of the island, or Queenstown, still in the mountains but more in the center of the island. I would make my decision when I reached Lumsden, 82 km north, based on the time and the weather.
I reached Lumsden around 2:00 p.m., and as it was still raining, I headed toward the mountains surrounding Queenstown, which is where much of The Lord of the Rings was shot. The rain stopped, but as I climbed into the mountains, I also climbed nearer the clouds. The effect was a bit otherworldly, as this photo near Fairlight on SH 6 about 45 km north of Lumsden shows:
I finally reached the south end of Lake Wakatipu around 4:15 p.m.; my destination for the night, Queenstown, was at the north end of the lake some 47 km further. With the low cloud cover, daylight was beginning to fade, so I snapped this picture before losing the light completely:
I rolled into Queenstown, which is sort of New Zealand’s version of Aspen, Vail, or some other ski resort town, in intermittent light rain just after 5:00 – and in to gridlock. I called the Queenstown Village Holiday Park (twice) to get directions, and was finally parked by 5:45 p.m. I headed for the kitchen to make a can of Watties’ Spaghetti with cheese sauce (Watties’ is Heinz of Australia), and a slice of bread and butter. As the rain stopped while I was eating dinner, I walked into town to buy some souvenirs, then came back and am finishing up this blog entry about 9:00 p.m. The rain has stopped, and it looks like it may be clearing (which also means cold).
Tomorrow, I head for the West Coast – the one quadrant of the South Island I have yet to explore – as I head back toward Christchurch and a Monday afternoon departure. It’s hard to believe I’ll have been here for two weeks tomorrow; still a lot to see!
Campervan mileage: 274 km for the day
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