Our first stop was the Southland Museum where we enjoyed the exhibits, but most of all we enjoyed the Tuataras. The Tuatara is a lizard-like reptile that is found only in New Zealand and the museum breeds them. The oldest resident Tuatara, Henry, who is believed to be about 130 years old, was being shy but we did manage to see several others despite their ability to blend in with their surroundings.
After a coffee and date scone at the museum cafe we then walked around Queens Park which had some beautiful gardens, an aviary, children's park, etc. The Winter Garden was particularly colourful.
After lunch we headed out to Bluff, the trip being a dry run for our early morning visit tomorrow when we catch the ferry to Stewart Island. Bluff is at the southern end of State Highway 1 which runs North - South through the whole country.
The town of Bluff, which was first settled in 1824 (early for New Zealand), is fairly run down but there are some beautiful walking trails around and over the bluff and we walked the coastal trail for about an hour.
No visit to a coastal fishing town would be complete without enjoying fish and chips out of the paper, so dinner was Blue Cod and chips before heading back to our motel in Invercargill.
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