To Invercargill
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Fri 1 Aug 2014 22:17
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To Invercargill via Lunacy and
Laughter
 We woke to a very
gentle sunrise. Up, washed, breakfasted
and on the road before ten. Sadly no sea lions to see us off.
   Back the five miles on the gravel road. A few signs to choose
from. A gentle start to
tourism at the Purakaunui
Falls.
 The tiny village of
Papatowai, just
some holiday homes with few permanent
residents.
  A couple of next door farmhouses had great
post boxes.
 Segregated
sheep.
 We stopped at the lookout below, behind us was a
strange sight, behind us high up here was a
lake.
 We stopped and just
admired the views from Florence Hill Lookout over Tautuku
Beach.
 The Lost Gypsy
Gallery.
 Still
alone.
 Bear spotted a tiny blue and yellow
sign that pointed to Niagara Falls. A
must see.
   Over a little
bridge, there was the
sign, the explanation and the falls in all their glory..........
 We walked back to
the bridge where Bear posed beside his incredible
find.
   A ‘One Careful Owner’, a OCO
caravan snuggled in between friends and a Niagara
Falls cafe sign, said building was never found.
  Clearly, in these
parts, you don’t just have a wheel outside, you have the whole cart.
  Next we saw this random grouping and stopped.
  In the centre was examples of
petrification.
 Pretty little church on the opposite side of the road with
horseshoes decorating the fence.
 Then our literally breath taking experience at Curio Bay. Spot the person to judge the
size of the waves.
 Then our barking
mad experience at Slope Point.
 We stopped for a very late lunch outside an Information Centre,
deserted of course. There was this beautiful one carefully
owned tractor outside. Hey I didn’t see your gesticulation at the time.
Oh, just letting you know it’s just the two of
us. Yeah, right, pull the other
one..........
  Alone again.
Psst, we are not alone.
 Even the sheep
went to hide in the sheltered bit of their field.
By now the wind was so strong that our speed was down
to a crawl, Mable had to be held with a tight rein. She was very good and the
Wicked Witch and Bear seemed to have made a pact, so other than the constant
wiggling, it was quite a pleasant journey.
  A few moments respite in the trees
meant a little faster than twenty to twenty five miles an hour, alone as we have
come to expect on this journey. For miles the only thing we saw was this
wind-torn
OCO...........
 ...........and
sheep, with the odd badly buffeted
seagull.
  At last as we pull into the town we
see two cars. There are no DOC or freestyle sites
anywhere in Invercargill so Bear had found us a friendly
little place five minutes walk from the town centre. Doug the cheerful
owner was surprised to see Bear, in fact, anyone at all, especially in Mable.
All day he had been hearing severe wind warnings on the radio warning people to
stay indoors. Tourism Radio is a GPS pre recorded thingy, so no emergency or
warning messages for us, Oh Well. Clearly we are Wellard Millards or just plain
nuts as once again it has been proven – what we have long
known.................
ALL IN ALL A CRAZY
DAY
WHAT A GAS, TALK ABOUT
WINDY |