However, before we get there, we mustn't get ahead of ourselves, for there was plenty of time for further frolicking in Te Anau before we were forced to depart.
Below, you'll see what I mean;
Checkout time--10:00AM all throughout NZ--had arrived, and so we went to drop off the key at the front desk. Below, you see the gardener hard at work in front of the owner's car, a Holden Commodore R8. (A cool 425hp resides under that hood, generated from a 6.2 litre LS3 General Motors V8!)
The chief gardener hard at work
Te Anau Top Ten Holiday Park
I had a little extra time this day, and so I talked with one of the cleaning people for about three or four minutes, asking her about her job. I was very impressed when she told me about how she and the rest of the staff were able to keep the park in tip-top condition. She told me that there were approximately 10-12 people like herself who put in a good day's work to keep all of the facilities clean as a whistle, and expertly maintained it all in running order. In addition to these cleaners, there were two gardeners/maintenance workers on staff who showed up to work almost every day of the week to keep things operating smoothly. After those, you had the two people working hard at reception, helping people get settled, checked out, booked into their next destination, and guiding them on the local sights and activities so that their stay would be most enjoyable. What impressed me the most about how this particular park was run, was that the owner was not averse to hiring the right amount of dedicated personnel to make his park THE destination for all travelers in the Te Anau area. He could have pinched a penny here or there, but in the pursuit of excellence, chose not to do so. The results were, in a word, stunning. The best part of all his, was that prices in these types of establishments were no more than the other places that were not maintained so diligently. There seems to be a commitment to excellence at various holiday parks throughout New Zealand that I have never seen elsewhere in the developed world where labour is not cheap. Cheers to you, Te Anau Top Ten team!
Gorgeous Hydrangeas at the Top Ten Holiday Park
Te Anau, NZ
As we were checking out, I couldn't help but notice these below:
Pedal Carts, Top Ten Holiday Park, Te Anau, NZ
And so it was, that the day's first adventure began...why are there two steering wheels on that thing?
The two church ladies heading off to the morning service
Te Anau, NZ
Soon it was clear to one church lady that it was a good thing her steering wheel was the one in working order!
"Now how do we get this thing started, here...hic!...?"
Hijinks in Te Anau, NZ
With Lake Te Anau in the background, Cal strikes a pose. Remind you of "Happy Days", and the Fonz, anyone? I think the bike helmet keeps him from pulling it off, though.
"The Dude", and his racer
Te Anau, NZ
Below, you see the boardwalk that runs along the waterfront, on which we drove the carts. We all had a blast!
Waterfront walkway, Te Anau, NZ
Then, out of nowhere, this other dude suddenly showed up on the scene, and quickly did a "U-ee" to come along side.
Well-dressed dude, cruising Te Anau's Shores
We quickly realized that his eye had been caught by one of the church ladies, and so he sidled up to her, hoping for a chance to meet; “Eh, baby, can I give you a lift?”
“Oh no! Déjà vu! I made this mistake somewhere before, I think! Somebody get dat guy a breath mint, please!”
Trying to meet girls on Te Anau's waterfront
Te Anau, NZ
She played hard to get, at first, but eventually he won over her heart, and they rode off into this sunset...(later that day.)
View from the waterfront boardwalk, Te Anau, NZ
After finishing our hi-jinks on the pedal buggies, we stopped in at the local Fresh Choice Supermarket to restock our supplies before pushing on to Invercargill. While there, we found an Italian restaurant owner who agreed with us that New Zealanders all drive "da wong way, on da weft hand side of da woad!"
First the pie shop admits that miles are better than km, and now this!
Changes are coming extremely slowly here, in Te Anau, NZ
Pretty as a picture! Down here they call peppers, "capsicums."
OCD grocery clerks are vigilant and on the job at Te Anau Fresh Choice!
Te Anau, NZ
Our supplies restocked, it was time to hit the road again. The next few pictures below come from the Manapouri area.
This photo below, looks past Supply Bay to the mountains of the park behind.
We had already seen some of the old home made, handcrafted campervans of yesteryear in the town of Motueka already, but their crude construction paled in comparison to the elaborate creation below. In the background, you can see the Seddon Atkinson tractor that this RV owner uses to haul around his gypsy style trailer. One of the family was actually doing the dishes inside the trailer while I took this photo. If you look closely underneath the trailer, you may be able to see the kid's bikes being kept out of the elements.
The pictures below were taken 40 miles/60kms south of Manapouri, where Hwy 99 and 96 meet.
Lone Sheep McQuade surveys his domain, and the strange man who has entered it.
Just west of the junction, we found this bridge, the Clifden suspension bridge, built in memory of the soldiers who fought and lost their lives in World War I
Clifden Suspension Bridge, Clifden, NZ
Pressing on, we made our way south to the coast, where we found a wild and woolly landscapes like the ones below.
Normally the prevailing winds are very strong from a westerly direction, but while we were here, there was a major storm from the east just finishing. Because of this, the tops of the ocean's swells can be seen blowing back out to sea, along with the gale force winds we experienced this day.
A short distance south of McCracken's Rest, we stopped in a little village name Orepuki, where we followed Dudley Street down to the beach, where we got the shot below.
Te Waewae Bay, Orepuki, NZ
Did we say that things were wild and woolly on this coast? Below you see some of the trees, shaped by the vicious prevailing winds in the southernmost area of NZ.
Windswept Trees in Orepuki, NZ
Early evening found us in Invercargill, where we stumbled upon these gates that led to a magnificent set of gardens.
Main Gates to Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
The placard below shows the sheer extent of this vast park. That rotunda in the middle of the park took us a five-minute walk to get to.
Queen's Park Map, Invercargill, NZ
The view from the main ate of Queen's Park, looking toward the central rotunda
Invercargill, NZ
Just to the left of the frame above, was a vast rose garden, containing almost every type of rose grown in all the world.
"Taihape Sunset" rose, ca. 1987
Invercargill, NZ
Adjacent to the rose gardens was this indigenous forest of manuka trees.
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
The roses continue
Auckland Metro Rose, 1989
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Unknown variety of rose
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Did we say that things were wild and woolly on this coast? Below you see some of the trees, shaped by the vicious prevailing winds in the southernmost area of NZ.
Early evening found us in Invercargill, where we stumbled upon these gates that led to a magnificent set of gardens.
The placard below shows the sheer extent of this vast park. That rotunda in the middle of the park took us a five-minute walk to get to.
Invercargill, NZ
Just to the left of the frame above, was a vast rose garden, containing almost every type of rose grown in all the world.
Invercargill, NZ
Adjacent to the rose gardens was this indigenous forest of manuka trees.
The roses continue
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Looking from the duck pond bridge toward the rotunda area
Following the right hand path above, led us to the area below.
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Although it looks cool, all fun was dampened (honest, no pun intended) by the pressure being insufficient for the combatants to douse one another! Drat!! Some killjoy obviously got to the pressure regulator!
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Below we see the New Zealanders' fascination with water and plumbing continue
Oversized plumbing
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Below, we saw an intriguing sculpture, but were never able to discern its meaning. Help, anyone? It looks to be in the Middle Eastern style of portraying lions, or big cats, a la Babylonian sculpture.
Curious Sculpture
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
At long last, the rotunda, from which bands play and public ceremonies are held.
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
The view from the rotunda toward the main gates of the park
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Two amigos hug in New Zealand's southernmost city
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Below, you can see the back entrance to the park, if you have a telescope, that is!
Image showing how vast Queen's Park really is
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
The array of colours and how they're combined is a thirst-quenching treat for the eyes.
Flower beds and tree gardens
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
As the sun was setting, we wistfully tore ourselves from this truly enchanted garden, maybe never to return?
The sadness of an evening farewell
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
At long last, the rotunda, from which bands play and public ceremonies are held.
The view from the rotunda toward the main gates of the park
Two amigos hug in New Zealand's southernmost city
Below, you can see the back entrance to the park, if you have a telescope, that is!
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
The array of colours and how they're combined is a thirst-quenching treat for the eyes.
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
As the sun was setting, we wistfully tore ourselves from this truly enchanted garden, maybe never to return?
Queen's Park, Invercargill, NZ
Having a little time before sunset, we journeyed on, seeing this intriguing structure below.
A closer look at what turned out to be the old Invercargill water tower.
Invercargill, NZ
Traveling down the same road as the water tower, we happened on the church below. We had looked this church up on the internet, thinking that we would bin town on the Sabbath, but we were a day early. It was just a fluke that we came upon it at all.
A listing of services below
Our day came to a close, and so we retired to our cabin at the Top Ten Holiday Park
Invercargill Top Ten Holiday Park
For those of you wondering what "inver" means, seeing as there is also an "Inver"ness in Scotland, one of our blog followers, Linda, has informed me that the word, inver, means "at the mouth of." This being the case, we should find that the Cargill River flows through Invercargill, however, it is the Otago River which flows through the town. Wikipeadia gives us the following info on the matter: "Inver comes from the Scots Gaelic word inbhir meaning a river's mouth and Cargill is in honour of Captain William Cargill, who was at the time the Superintendent of Otago, of which Southland was then a part."
Anyway, that's the story behind the lovely city of Invercargill, which our whole family fell in love with in our extremely all too short time there.
Good Night From Invercargill, as tomorrow we travel to the beach where, Burt Munroe, known famously as the World's Fastest Indian raced a gang of toughs who goaded him into a bet.
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