16th October – Curio Bay to Invercargill

The rotten weather was in full force when we woke up and showed no sign of abating.

We made a stop at Slope Point and decided to brave a walk to the most southerly point of the island. It’s 5140km from the Equator, 4803km from South Pole and just felt like the point that all bad weather collided. The wind was so strong it was hard to stay upright and the hailstones were lashing horizontally into our faces. It was good fun but we were soaked and red-raw when we got back into the car.

Further down the road we noticed more sign of the relentless weather. There were trees that were so battered by wind that they grew slanted with their branches permanently swept to the other side of the tree.

We stopped briefly in Fortrose for a glimpse of a the tip of a shipwreck poking out of the water but the tide was quite high and the rain was still coming so we didn't get out of the car.

When we arrived in Invercargill we had a quick look around and a look for some trousers ore suited to walking in wet weather for Matt. He was so reluctant to buy his first pair of jeans because they weren't very travel friendly and now that’s all he seems to have.

The lady in the charity shop was very nice and gave us a map and some instructions on where to find other shops. She also gave us directions to the Post Office because I’d seen a great sheepskin jacket that I would have loved to have at home and was thinking about posting back with my wonderful pajamas.

We’d stopped in the city to get jobs done and so most of the day was spent stocking up on supplies and trying to do little jobs that we couldn't get done in the more remote areas.

We also needed to do some laundry so were directed to Glengarry Shopping Centre near the city centre so we could do some laundry and were expecting a mall of some sorts. It turned out to be a semi boarded-up complex of shops on a run-down estate – which I guess might actually be more what you might expect with a self-service launderette. We got into the swing of it and went to the chippy while we waited. The lady in there was confused by our request for vinegar (“What, shall I just pour it on them?!”) but gave it her best shot. We carried our newspaper wrapped package past the park with the kids happily spinning on a roundabout cushioned with a double mattress, and munched them in the car. They were sadly disappointing but it was quite a novel experience altogether.

After pigging ourselves, I had fun folding out undies in public and had a nice conversation with a lady who fostered up to 6 troubled kids and held down a full-time job while Matt tried to fix a dodgy car mirror.

In the evening we went to Seaward Bush Reserve and had a nice walk around before cooking up a tasty sausage casserole (a welcome change from pasta) and snuggling into bed.