The start of the road trip.....
The weather has turned, the intense heat has gone and dark clouds are swarming over queenstown. I had breakfast at joes garage, famed for it's coffees - justified - and breakfasts - I had a pile of garlic field mushrooms on ciabatta and could not finish half. I was checked out of my hotel and ready to hit the road at 10. The first part of the road trip goes past the remarkables mountain range, which would be stunning in winter when they come into their own as a ski field. I then followed the lake through barren and deserted countyside. Near the end of the lake there was a picnic ground with a rocky beach and great views, the perfect stop to eat a peach and apricot and enjoy my solitary piece of paradise.

Once you leave the lake behind you reach southlands - relatively flat pastural land home to crops, sheep and cows. Today it was a relentless wind tunnel, I would barely hold the camera steady to take photos, and lost a fingernail when the car door got flung open onto the highway. The locals assure me it's not normal, but the wind turbines and bent trees and resolute animals suggest otherwise. The road is pretty deserted, it's mostly fellow tourists - occasionally pulling over to take photos like me, campervans and trucks. There are a couple of townships the highway passes through, of the blink and you miss it type. I did pause at winton, which had a couple of nice homewares shops and a cafe that did country style food.

By the time I had finished lunch the temperature plummeted and the rain came down - welcome relief in this drought stricken area but it chilled me to the bone. Invercargill was only a short distance away and my motel on the highway leading into town. I have a very generous and comfortable studio apartment, with tasteful decor and plunger coffee! I drove into the city centre proper and had a quick look around. The town is flat and in a grid, and is alot bigger than I thought it would be. The shops were not very exciting so I decided to check out the invercargill art gallery and museum. This was actually really interesting! There is a tribute to invercargills most famous son, Burt Munro, rider of the worlds fastest Indian bike and immortalized by the movie of the same name. The bike is displayed along with many photos of his racing career. There is a sucessful breeding program of tuataras, endangered creatures that look like lizards but are closer related to dinosaurs - the only relative left living. They are nocturnal and move slowly if at all, so are good photography subjects. The other fascinating exhibit was on the subantarctic new Zealand islands. It goes into alot of detail of their history, science and conservation, wildlife, and the occasions when castaways have had to survive being shipwrecked on the islands.

The rain is now relentless so I returned to the motel to finish my book underbelly razor. Dinner was across the road at Cobb and co - some warming vegetable soup and syrah.