Stewart Island to Invercargill — 17 February 2001

Since the ferry back to Bluff didn't leave until the afternoon, we had a chance to sleep in a little before another trek around the island. We missed breakfast at the hotel and headed up to the Church Hill Cafe (the island's other restaurant) to see if they were open. They weren't, but as it looked so nice, we decided we'd head back there for lunch after a hike. We grabbed some museli bars and fruit juice at the island's general store and had a quick breakfast on the shore. Afterwards, we trekked through the rainforests (using fushia walk and raroa walk), followed by a scenic walk along Watercress and Golden Bay roads and then back down Golden Bay Road. We stopped to befriend a very curious wood pigeon and we encountered several fantails in the forests.

We made it back to the cafe just as it started to rain. After a delicious lunch, we picked up some natural anti-nausea stuff (made of ginger) — which made Jen chunder 5 minutes before the end of the ferry ride back to Bluff! (Jen's experiences on this ferry lead to us coining the vomiting euphemism "Foveauxing".)

No penguins in Bluff's harbor this time, but we had a quick van ride back to Invercargill. Invercargill's a quiet town, even on a Saturday night. After dinner (at Rock's Cafe, where they serve a delicious ostrich), we took in some of the town's highlights (which consisted of a brick water tower and a cool 120-year old tuatara named Henry).