Invercargill: Not That Bad! (Apr. 11-12)

As described before, the deterioration of our sleeping conditions necessitated a quick departure from the Dolphin Lodge. Well, that and Becky was looking dangerously close to having an aneurysm over cleaning the hostel. When we wrote that we wouldn’t have minded more work, that was before we simultaneously started having more to do and our sleeping arrangements took a turn for the worse. Combine those factors with the fact that there wasn’t much to do in the area, that Becky had exhausted the supply of celebrity gossip magazines, and that I caught a bad cold, and you had a perfect storm for a wwoofing evacuation. So we up and left for Invercargill.

When we drove to Invercargill, we found out we were mistaken as to how out in the sticks we were at Porpoise Bay. Apparently it’s not nearly as remote when you approach it from Invercargill, less than an hour in fact. Just trying to do my best to keep the blog as accurate as possible these days… Oh well, it’s not like finding that out meant there was retroactively more to do in the area.

Depending on the literature you may read, Invercargill gets somewhat of a bad rap. Maybe it’s just that we were so glad to stores and other signs of civilization when we rolled into town, but we found Invercargill to be just fine. Perhaps trying a bit too hard to be regarded as a greater city than it is, but just fine all the same.

We were hoping to use Invercargill as a base to visit Stewart Island, the largely unpopulated and unspoiled island an hour south by ferry, but the weather wasn’t cooperating with our plans. The last few days have featured heaps of wind, grey skies, and intermittent rain, conditions which would be even more unpleasant on Stewart Island, especially when you consider the choppy hour-long ferry ride both ways. So it was an easy decision: spend upwards of NZ$350 to go to Stewart Island for the weekend in cold and crappy weather, or punt and drive north to Queenstown, closer to our next wwoofing spot?

The World's Fastest Indian museum exhibit. This is one of our contraband photos.

With a day or two to spend in Invercargill, we drove around and saw the sights. I’m not sure what it is about Invercargill, but the city sure seems keen on large structures: a war obelisk, a big water tower, a modern-art looking wall sculpture, a pyramid-shaped museum, and prominent churches are all found in this medium-sized town of about 50,000. It’s almost like they’re trying to provide photo opportunities and reasons for people to come visit, which is what seemed a bit forced about the town.

The fabulous Invercargill water tower

The museum in particular was funny. Why was it a pyramid constructed out of unattractive plastic-looking material? Who knows, there were no related exhibits or references inside. When the Louvre put in a pyramid, that was an interesting juxtaposition at least, but this just seemed like a misguided attempt to create a tourist-worthy destination.

The fabulously pyramidal shaped Invercargill Museum

Two of its more memorable exhibits, to us at least, were a room featuring a variety of bird eggs, and a collection of skeleton keys. We were a bit peeved to have to pay NZ$5 each to see the exhibit on Burt Munro, the Invercargill native of World’s Fastest Indian fame. And then they had the nerve to specify that no pictures be taken of the exhibit, it’s not like it was a sensitive work of art or something! See below for my thoughts on that restriction.

Becky has a need for speed, of the imaginary variety

In a development that will surely shock most Green With NZ readers, the top attraction on my list was the Invercargill Brewery, NZ’s southernmost (a popular local business advertising slogan) brewery. They make a nice stout, as well as a few other beers, and we had a nice tasting and tour with the owner on Thursday afternoon. I couldn’t really taste much with my cold, but all the beers seemed to be well-crafted, particularly the stout.

The fabulous Invercargill Brewery. We liked their test beer, the smoked manuka bock.

We also drove down to Bluff, just south of town, and where the ferries depart for Stewart Island. The guidebooks are even harsher on Bluff, saying “If you can’t make it back to Invercargill for the night, try harder.” Which I’d guess we’d agree with, as the town seems to consist largely of one extended industrial area, with a huge aluminum smelter looming across the waterway.

But we did have to visit Bluff, if for no other reason than getting our obligatory photos at the Stirling Point’s guidepost, marking the end of NZ’s main road, State Highway 1. From Cape Reinga to the Bluff, it is cool to realize we’ve made it the length of the country in the last 3 months, and to think about how far we’ve come since then, both literally as well as figuratively. We also intended to go to the famous Paua Shell House, where a couple had meticulously been attaching shiny paua shell pieces to just all the surfaces in the interior of their house over the last several decades. However, we were apparently a little too late, as the house was being advertised for sale by auction in a few weeks. I knew the couple was old, but hadn’t heard in the news that anything had happened to them. Unfortunately that probably marks the end of the Paua Shell House.

Bluff signpost, still sponsered by AA (the Automobile Association, not what you were thinking)

Well Invercargill, we’ve given you a fair shot and found you’re not so bad at all. You’ll never be an Auckland, or even a Dunedin, but that’s no reason to get down on yourself. There can never be too many nice, small cities with an active downtown and plenty of parks like you have. To quote Ben Stiller said in Starsky & Hutch, “Be yourself, that’s what’s cool.”