The morning got off to a leisurely start, cruising the Main Street of Invercargill looking for a place to have breakfast. The Global Byte Cafe was open and it looked attractive, so in we went. Again, like Dunedin, a tasty breakfast at a good price. Satisfied and content, we asked the waitress where Hayes Hardware was, as that is the home of the Burt Munro Museum. Happily, it was right next door!
Hayes Hardware is a store to gladden the heart of any real man and, even better, it has a collection of old bikes - in various stages of repair and restoration - plus a few classic cars, that are the icing on the cake. Pride of place, however, is reserved for The World's Fastest Indian, the 1920's machine made famous in the movie of the same name. It was owned and ridden by Burt Munro (Herbert James to his parents) who held many motorcycle speed records on that bike, and some others, notably Velocettes. It is a story laden with inspiration and not a little emotion. To a sensitive biker like me, I actually felt swells of emotion as I looked over the various exhibits.
I lashed out the nearly $50 for the book of Munro's life and we then decided to shoot up the road (at a legal 50kph - man I can walk faster than that) to the Southland Art Gallery, where there is also a Burt Munro exhibition. It is tiny, but we were able to get right up to his 'practice' Indian. Just wonderful to see how he put it all together. It looks like a load of nuts and bolts, but under all that it was/is a thoroughbred speed machine. An enjoyable start to our day.
Time to head for Te Anau, which would be our base for two nights. Again we decided upon the scenic route, which took us roughly along the coast, where we stopped here and and there for photos. Looming up were great, craggy mountains, the kind of for which we had been hanging out, those which to our mind epitomise the South Island. No snow, which seemed a little odd, given the mountains on the east coast were snow-capped. Still, we snaked our way through, with the Getz at times labouring along at about 45kph. Fortunately there was no traffic behind to embarrass us!
We stopped in Tuatapere for lunch, a tasty cheese sandwich; and then continued our path between the mountains to Te Anau, arriving there at about 2.30pm We were quite keen to do something New Zealand-ish, so decided to walk a short part of Kepler's Track, as far as Dock Bay. A short drive to the parking lot and over the sluice gates, we were into a forest. Dank, impossibly green with ferns, moss and lichen. Old trees had fallen over everywhere and rotted in situ, with fungus and other mushrooms sprouting from them. It was positively primeval. Liz said it was spooky. I assured her that there were no trolls and no snakes, but she did not seem reassured!
A little over 35 minutes later we were on the beach at Dock Bay. We sat on the sand to rest and absorb the view and the silence; and then a boat came and beached a short distance away. The folk sorted themselves out while we pondered what it was they were up to. As it turned out, water skiing! We watched several of the girls - for girls they were - doing proficient water starts and enjoyed this unexpected entertainment.
We then trekked back up the trail and returned to our unit, quite satisfied with our little hiking excursion.
Dinner was rump steak, preceded by delicious French Onion soup, all helped down with a reasonable bottle of New Zealand Cab/Merlot. All in all a good day.
Tomorrow we are going to Milford Sound and hoping that the booking for our cruise has gone through. Should be good!
Hayes Hardware is a store to gladden the heart of any real man and, even better, it has a collection of old bikes - in various stages of repair and restoration - plus a few classic cars, that are the icing on the cake. Pride of place, however, is reserved for The World's Fastest Indian, the 1920's machine made famous in the movie of the same name. It was owned and ridden by Burt Munro (Herbert James to his parents) who held many motorcycle speed records on that bike, and some others, notably Velocettes. It is a story laden with inspiration and not a little emotion. To a sensitive biker like me, I actually felt swells of emotion as I looked over the various exhibits.
I lashed out the nearly $50 for the book of Munro's life and we then decided to shoot up the road (at a legal 50kph - man I can walk faster than that) to the Southland Art Gallery, where there is also a Burt Munro exhibition. It is tiny, but we were able to get right up to his 'practice' Indian. Just wonderful to see how he put it all together. It looks like a load of nuts and bolts, but under all that it was/is a thoroughbred speed machine. An enjoyable start to our day.
Time to head for Te Anau, which would be our base for two nights. Again we decided upon the scenic route, which took us roughly along the coast, where we stopped here and and there for photos. Looming up were great, craggy mountains, the kind of for which we had been hanging out, those which to our mind epitomise the South Island. No snow, which seemed a little odd, given the mountains on the east coast were snow-capped. Still, we snaked our way through, with the Getz at times labouring along at about 45kph. Fortunately there was no traffic behind to embarrass us!
We stopped in Tuatapere for lunch, a tasty cheese sandwich; and then continued our path between the mountains to Te Anau, arriving there at about 2.30pm We were quite keen to do something New Zealand-ish, so decided to walk a short part of Kepler's Track, as far as Dock Bay. A short drive to the parking lot and over the sluice gates, we were into a forest. Dank, impossibly green with ferns, moss and lichen. Old trees had fallen over everywhere and rotted in situ, with fungus and other mushrooms sprouting from them. It was positively primeval. Liz said it was spooky. I assured her that there were no trolls and no snakes, but she did not seem reassured!
A little over 35 minutes later we were on the beach at Dock Bay. We sat on the sand to rest and absorb the view and the silence; and then a boat came and beached a short distance away. The folk sorted themselves out while we pondered what it was they were up to. As it turned out, water skiing! We watched several of the girls - for girls they were - doing proficient water starts and enjoyed this unexpected entertainment.
We then trekked back up the trail and returned to our unit, quite satisfied with our little hiking excursion.
Dinner was rump steak, preceded by delicious French Onion soup, all helped down with a reasonable bottle of New Zealand Cab/Merlot. All in all a good day.
Tomorrow we are going to Milford Sound and hoping that the booking for our cruise has gone through. Should be good!
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