Mon 16 Jan 2017: Invercargill

The third, final, smallest plane took us to Invercargill.

First plane had seats arranged as three-four-three, two aisles. Second plane had one aisle, with three seats either side. This plane was two-and-two. We sat in the very front row. With a very good view and a quick biscuit as snack.

Invercargill is a nice, small terminal. Across the tarmac, in the door, turn left, there's the baggage pickup. A couple of taxis outside and a shuttle bus. We took the bus, its only passengers. Stopped at their office to get the credit card payment device.

The driver -- a cheerful woman, just back at work after her Christmas holiday -- told us that Queens Park is worth a visit. It's just down the road, visible from our hotel.

We check in at the Kelvin Hotel.

Room 501. A great view across the town. Pleasant but nothing very exciting. It's a few streets of oldish buildings with a few new, larger buildings. Queens Park is visible at the end of Kelvin Street.

Our room is... quite large. Two rooms. Three, if you count the large -- with spa -- bathroom. Judging by the bare concrete room down the corridor -- and the sounds of hammering and drilling and thumping -- the hotel is being renovated, room by room. With good results, to judge by our room.

Soon, we set out to look for lunch.

The sign across the road tells us that it's 12:20 and 16 degrees. There's a strong wind blowing. No cafes in the direction we walk... Luckily I remember that the shuttle bus driver mentioned a wee cafe at the park.

The park is in "formal English" style. Trees, garden beds, lawns and paths. We follow a sign, follow a path, find a big white pyramid... It's museum, art gallery and cafe. We eat, then check out the museum.

We check out just a couple of displays: tuaturas (or some such) and various bits of history. The tuaturas look like, well, very small crocodiles. Sort of. Thirty or forty cm long. While we are watching, they... stand very still. They are ancient animals, the last of some prehistoric grouping of animals.

Then we look at the old stuff... Feeling more and more... tired.

Decide it is time to walk home. Look at the rain and decide we have time to sit inside for a few minutes. A few minutes later we walk home, through the sprinkling of rain.

Interesting idea with the pedestrian lights at traffic lights. When we approach, they are blank, no light. Only when we press the button, the red man appears, then the green.

Back at the hotel, there's an itinerary for the next couple of days. Dinner tonight with the group. Tomorrow morning -- a visit to the Queen's Park museum... Ah well. There's an Antarctic flora display. Tomorrow, we'll check it out.

We sleep, rest, try the spa. Never quite understood the attraction of a spa, or even a bath. Not for getting clean, anyway. But it's a pleasant way to relax. Though it takes us quite a while to work out how to let the water out.

Now we're watching TV -- no worse than at home -- and waiting for dinner.

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After dinner:

We've met our fellow passengers. A varied bunch. We sat at a table with farmer/environmentalists from York. Dance teacher & her husband from Canberra. Worried woman from Hobart. Tour leader from France. All very interesting.

Meal was good, I ate plenty.

It's been raining on and off. Still light outside but getting dim, it's almost ten o'clock. Temperature now nine degrees. Weather forecast is for gales as we head south. Conversation covered sea sickness and the importance of not falling over.

Tomorrow is an optional talk on tuaturas at the museum. If it's fine weather, we'd like to see the "stumpery", sculptures made of tree stumps. I went downstairs, asked where it is. It's in Queens Park, which is a large park. We'll check the weather :-)

So far, so good...

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Before your dreams can come true, you have to have those dreams" … Dr Joyce Brothers