Yesterday we had a really great time. We drove to Dunedin on Wednesday afternoon and then to Invercargill yesterday. President Kezerian has given seniors the opportunity to take some side trips as long as we behave ourselves and try some missionary work as well. The road from Denediin to Invercargill is really beautiful and interesting. The route lies along an area named the Catlins. It is extremely beautiful and has some amazing features.
We first stopped at Balclutha to see the Clutha (Clyde) River. It is a beautiful shade of turquoise. I don't think I have ever seen a river that color before. It is also large, supposedly the largest in New Zealand and has lovely arched bridge. It reminded me of London Bridge in Lake Havasu Az. We then went to what is supposed to be the most photographed waterfall in New Zealand. It was only a short walk, not very hard, through podocarp forest that is gorgeous. There are ferns there that are 15 feet high and look more like trees. The fall sits in the middle of this and it was easy to see why it is so photographed. I would have taken more pictures if my battery hadn't died! Lol.
We stopped at a little roadside truck to have fish and chips (Blue Cod and it was yummy) and talked with a lady there. She looked like she had been badly burned on her face and all of her limbs were covered in tatoos. Ken talked with her for a bit like he does and she seemed very happy when we left her. I think he made her day. On the way there we had gone down to another area of beach to sea a lighthouse. We stopped to walk on the beach and talked with a man from Switzerland. He was mostly complaining about how there is "no history" in New Zealand. Well, isn't that the point! It is a pretty new country compared to Europe and it's "history" is quite different. Some people don't get it.
We next stopped at an amaziing place called Curio Bay. You have to go there at low tide to see things and we got there just right. We spent a long time there. The bottom of the bay there is covered with petrified wood. You would not believe the huge logs that are there and the stumps just sticking up out of the ground. It was so fascinating to look at all that and wonder what happened probably millions of years ago. Some of the logs looked like they had been burned first. There were so many things to see and the ocean there was so gorgeous that it was hard to leave. There are also penguins there late in the day but we couldn't wait because we had places to go and things to do.
Next stop, Slope Point, the southernmost point on the South Island. It said it was a 20 min. walk and we had spent a lot of time at Curio Bay but after a short debate, we decided we "would never get here again" so we went. I think the 20 min. walk turned out to be round trip becaue it didn't seems to take too long. I'm really glad we went because it not only was beautiful but we met to lovely ladies from Germany. They were sisters named Heidi and Monica. They said they were 42 and 46 but they looked 20 something. We had a really good gospel conversation with them and they said they would watch for the missionaries in Germany. They took our picture at the sign post to prove we did it! We were going to get them a B of M and a video but they beat us old folks back and left too fast. Turns out I gave that stuff to a lady named Glennis in an op shop today. What a sweetie! We had a nice talk as well. She said it would be good to have that around so that her children might see and become interested too.
After we got to our motel in Invercargill and had some dinner, we drove down to a place named Bluff where you can drive up on top of a hill and see Stewart Island. I got some great photos and there is a really nice lookout tower with lots of history and stuff. We had ice cream at a little dairy there then drove to a really unique new Marae there. It is very different from the others we have seen. It was a very long day but we saw some lovely things and met some great people. It's quite amazing who you can meet at the End of the World!
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