Invercargill

So after a bumpy catamaran ride back to Bluff from Stewart Island I took the bus up to Invercargill. There is no Cargill river here but William Cargill (born in Edinburgh) was superintendent of the province from 1853. More Scots followed including my hosts below. Ann on the left came from Shetland in the 1970s on a teacher exchange and met Eric Mouat (the other lady is Annabelle his sister) and his great-grandfather came from Shetland in the 1800s, exploring deep into unknown country to the west:

Invercargill was home to Bert Munro of 'World's Fastest Indian' fame. He features in the excellent town museum as well as a great section on New Zealand's sub-antartic islands - a future visit perhaps? There are also some nice green spaces:


The Scots legacy is everywhere:

There are a few grand buildings and some from the post art deco era:

The umbrella sculpture works as a giant sundial and star map:


After a pleasant stay here - including a room to myself (no snoring or people getting up early!) - I took the bus to Dunedin. On the journey met and interesting lady who sailed to England in 1953 for the Coronation and told me of her trip hostelling around England. Only Portsmouth had hot showers in those days!