Trip to Stewart Island

Weather report; clear and sunny without a whisper of wind. You can tell it's Autumn here now, geting a little cooler in the mornings. Should be ideal for the ferry crossing to Stewart Island this morning though.Up a little earlier for both of us today to make the 9.30 ferry from The Bluff, about a 30 minute drive from the motel and an hour crossing. A nice drive down the coast road and into what is clearly one of the poorer areas of NZ. A lot of derelict properties and just general signs of low income family homes. You wouldn't call Invercargill itself a full on tourist destination, it's mainlhy agriculture and industry. As a tourist it's more a place to base yourself for Stewart Island, The Fjords and The Catlins. That said there are some lovely areas bordering Invercargill, namely Oreti beach where we watched the sun set and the areas directly behind the beach and south of Invercargill where there are huge expanses of Wetlands.The ferry crossing was uneventful, just enough swell to make it interesting rather than uncomfortable! Pulled into Stewart Island a little early and jumped straight onto an island tour bus to show us what was what. Of course their was the usual tour guide that jovially told us all the stories about the island, with a little embelishment I expect!We then has fish and chips for lunch, freshly caught Blue Cod, tasted lovely ;o) Then spent a nice leisurely few hours wandering around some of the local coves around the small and only town of Oban (Most things down here are named after Scottish things and rather weirdly they speak with a mixed NZ / Scottish accent!).Back on the ferry later in the afternoon for the trip back, for an even smoother ride back over. Apparently it was about the calmest day they'd had this year! Suited me, within 10 minutes the gentle rocking action had my head nodding, and Debs, and we were soon having a few winks sleep!Popped up to the top of the Bluff on the way back to check out the panoramic views around and then back to motel to have something to eat. Finished the day watching the sun set from Oreti beach. The sand is so hard you can drive along it quite easily. This beach was where parts of the film "The Fastest Indian" was filmed. FOr those of you that don't know, "Indian" refers to the motorcycle, not the race of people! A great story, I watched the film on the plane over!