The Southern Scenic Route

Debbie packed up our belongings while I took a taxi out to the airport to pick up our rental car. I had been paying special attention over the previous few days to the driving particulars of New Zealand so re-learning how to drive on the left wasn't a complete shock. That said, I did flip on the wipers a few times before I remembered consistently that the turn signal stalk is on the right of the steering column. I also appreciated eagle-eyed Debbie the few times over the next few days that I turned into the oncoming lane by mistake.

We checked out of our hotel in Invercargill and headed west along what they call the Scenic Southern Route. Before I go on though, I would like to add that we didn't have anything but nice things to say about the Living Space hotel and we would highly recommend it to anyone travelling in the Invercargill area.

The Scenic Southern Route travels west along the coast for several tens of miles before heading north toward Manapouri (where the Doubtful Sound cruise we were booked on leaves from) and Te Anau (where we would be spending the night).

For a self named "Scenic" route, one would think there would be lots of places to pull off and enjoy the coastal scenery but I am sad to say they were few and far between. Early on we were concentrating on driving somewhat and didn't focus much on scenery. By the time we were more comfortable we only passed a single scenic stop. We did pull off onto the shoulder at one point and got a picture or two of some sheep and cows whose field had a magnificent view overlooking the ocean. They didn't seem to be overly appreciative but it is, after all, hard to read the thoughts of cows and sheep.


At the only official scenic stop we found there was a small viewing stand with which to better see the shoreline.




In case one were stranded there for some reason, there was a M*A*S*H-like signpost to remind one of home.


Other than that there was little to recommend the route. After heading inland the road wound through extensive farm lands straddled by low mountains. The one narrow mountain pass we were led through was a gentle initation for Debbie who is especially nervous on the more winding roads here. There were much more harrowing sections in the days ahead that gave her genuine cause for worry, but more on that later.

We arrived in Manapouri and scoped out the visitor's centre and town dock for our boat ride the next day. We had some lunch in the local cafe (along with a septegenarian motorcycle gang), and zipped up the short drive to Te Anau for our motel. The motel was a bit of a come down from the one in Invercargill but it was clean and dry.

After settling in we took a stroll around the little town. Te Anau is located on the shore of Lake Te Anau, a very large (for New Zealand) freshwater lake. Te Anau seems to serve as a major stopover and tourist town as there are a dozen or more motels in a town of 500 or so people. Every one seemed to be booked and most had tour buses parked out front.



There is a tourist centre in town that books boat and helicopter tours of the area as well as helping out the local motels with finding customers.


The main street is chock full of stores selling outerwear and restaurants. We did take advantage of the outdoor stores and each bought a decent rain jacket.

Once thusly equipped we found the one and only lakefront bar and settled in for a couple of pints of beer/glasses of wine.


In case you were wondering how all those drinks have been appearing on the table in the various cafe shots, wonder no more.


In fairness to Debbie I'm pretty comfortable ordering her wine, while I am harder to please when it comes to beer selection. It only stands to reason that I should be the one to go in and order.

After a pretty average dinner at the bar we retired to our motel for some TV and an early night.

Until next time ...

Don