Well, we found that Invercargill was pretty much like we had experienced on a previous trip, It was lunch time on Sunday when we arrived and our quick drive along the main street indicated that there were very few places open at which to buy lunch. We were saved when the ‘Golden Arches’ appeared on our right, so it was in to ‘Macca’s to eat. I don’t know whether this store was new to town, or maybe it has been recently renovated. It was packed – perhaps it really was the only place open.
There were was a car racing event on in town over the weekend and not only were many of the motels booked out, so were the restaurants for dinner. We found ourselves eating at the first floor restaurant in the Kelvin Hotel. Jill reminded me that we had eaten there on our previous trip. That explained why it looked so familiar. We were also comforted to find some familiar terminology – ‘Yous’ is also the accepted plural of you in this town as well.
On Monday, we had a very enjoyable day’s drive to Dunedin. This took us through the area of the Catlins which is very scenic. We pottered along taking photographs and pausing to take in some of the sites.
We had a very pleasant dinner in Dunedin at the old Speights Brewery. This place had a lot going for it – character, good food and a great range of drinks, We thought that we should have perhaps immersed ourselves in their interesting range of beers, but we found that they also had a comprehensive wine list and we enjoyed a nice Cabernet Sauvignon from the Marlborough region of NZ. I can highly recommend the ‘Bluestone on George’ as a good place to stay.
Our next day was quite a long drive to Christchurch and our focus was mostly on covering the distance. We stopped at a few places for photos, lunch and coffees, arriving in the delightful city of Christchurch at about 5.00 pm. Another eating recommendation is the newish restaurant (I’m sorry that I can’t remember it’s name) in Oxford Terrace, right opposite the memorial to Scott of the Antarctic. They had a very interesting menu and a good selection of wines by the glass. The service was especially friendly and professional.
We spent our last morning bemused as we watched the tourists from one of the Princess Cruise Ships doing many of the tourist things in town. From being in Christchurch on a number of previous occasions, we thought that things like punting on the Avon and riding the old trams on their short length of track around the city was something passé. It’s best not to poke fun here as we have probably done the same sort of things in other places. (Those who live in glass houses should never throw stones ).
