Weather overcast and chilly for our fourth golf outing. Checked with a cabbie (who was a fellow golf tragic) for foolproof directions and found Otatara Links (aka Invercargill Golf Club) easily. Nobody at the pro shop but the keys to the golf cart were in an envelope with our name on it and stuck to the door.
A real surprise this course. A great layout with magnificient tree lined fairways. A fantastic course - we both loved it. Only thing was we got a bit lost around the course as there was no signage on the holes. Ended up stopping to ask someone who advised us that all the signage had been taken away the day before to get redone for a tournament coming up in a couple of weeks. Made it even more of a challenge. We both played well with another win to PP in the best score of the trip. On a country course basis you would rate it 9 out of 10 but on our comparison yardstick we considered it as 7.5. This course is so pleasant I would strongly recommend anyone coming to the Sth Island for golf should go out of their way to come here & play it - maybe even twice. The highlight of Invercargill is undoubtedly this course and regretably the area didn't have much else going for it. A disparaging remark from a previous traveller renamed this fair city "Inverarsehole".
After lunch we headed south to Bluff for lunch.This could be the place that time forgot. It is the oldest continually settled community in pre treaty terms in NZ. The other thing it is known for is the start (southern end) of the national highway from Stirling Point (Lands End).This is one of the most photographed sites with a sign post depicting distances to various cities world wide. Found a pleasant diner overlooking the sign and took the picture window seat with views out over the Southern Ocean (Foveaux Straight). Antartica is over the horizon from here.
A couple of ice cold sherbets and a bite to eat & we were ready to roll again. Walked off lunch with a stroll down to Lookout Point. Only walked a few hundred meters or so as we only wanted to see what was happening on a fishing boat anchored in the bay. What a commotion with hundreds of sea birds circling and diving for fish scraps as they cleaned the catch. I don't know what the catch was but the fish frames being tossed overboard were 18 to 20 inches long and there was plenty of them.
There are a lot of walks in this area but most of them were too strenuous for us oldies. Back to the chariot and off up to Bluff Hill Lookout. Excellent 360 degree views from here especially out over Foveaux Straight to Stewart Island. Quite windy up here with the southerly off the ice cap being sufficient to freeze the balls off a golf course. Couldn't stay too long up here for this reason. Looking back over Bluff is rather depressing as the township gives the feeling it is closed for business and the huge former food processing plants have been closed down and are in advanced stages of disrepair. In short, the only reason this place keeps going is through misguided tourists such as ourselves coming to visit Lands End.
Back to the Kelvin Hotel to thaw out in a hot shower and following recharging we strode off up the main street to find an interesting restaurant for that night. Out of luck. There wasn't any. Thai (choice of plenty, though none appealing), kebabs, Chinese (fake) and buggar all else. Decided the best and safest option was to dine in house again at the restaurant that served us so well the previous evening. This time we got to try the famous Whitebait fritters (described by Jean as tasting fishy). Another thoroughly enjoyable meal followed by a nightcap before retiring to the cot.
Visit: www.bluff.co.nz
Otatara Links
Otatara Links
Highway 0 Km Sign
Lands End
Cleaning The Catch
Bluff Estuary
Lighthouse Off Bluff
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