The Southern Scenic Route

This is a 600+ km route linking Dunedin to Queenstown by passing along a large portion of the southern coast, and even includes Milford Sound. I don’t have a map of this right now, but Steve is working on something for the last post of our trip, showing just where all we drove. For now, you’ll need to consult your favorite method for trying to follow along with our travels.

After we left Milford Sound, we headed south to Invercargill for a couple of nights of doing very little. :) It is the southernmost city in New Zealand. In driving there, we passed some gorgeous scenery -

We did venture further south to the town of Bluff, that is known throughout the country for its massive, tasty oysters:

Steve got them raw, while I had mine fried, and oh yes were they delicious!

For once, timing was on our side, as the season had literally just opened that week.

As we headed east out of Invercargill, we passed large areas of patchwork farmland…

… interspersed with lines of trees bent from the coastal winds…

… and still more sheep -

Near Curio Bay…

… there was an interesting pocket of forest that has been preserved by the local communities, that had a number of the endemic trees and plants we had been seeing in our travels through the South Island.

It was called the Living Forest Walkway, and we really enjoyed our stroll around it, seeing unique trees…

… and enjoying the birdsong. For the next video, be sure to have your speakers on, so you can hear the Bellbird -

This is just a very short snippet of songs we’ve heard everywhere here. I’m still trying to get a good picture of one, but this is the best I have so far -

Across the road is a Petrified Forest that you can only see at low tide -

note the people in the lower left, for scale

The day cleared up nicely, as we drove on in search of waterfalls -

The first one was McLean Falls…

… which gave a nice soft pic -

On the way to the next waterfall, we happened to pull in at yet another unassuming viewpoint marker (they are very low-key about their scenic views here)…

… and were blown away by the beauty of Tautuku Beach.

(this had just been labeled “Florence Hill Lookout”)

Our next stop was Purakaunui Falls…

… where the lighting made this a tricky shot to achieve -

And we just keep driving…