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Happiness Is The Road
We were awoken to the sound of the hidden cameras whirring and the hidden microphones crackling. 6.03am in the Big Brother camp site, Rog and Jay emerge from their camper van and walk to the ablutions block. We got up nice and early so we could hopefully shower without bumping into the funny woman. Luckily there was no sign of her as we trudged across the gravel hand in hand with our towels and wash bags. The shower rooms were unisex and consisted of a shower cubicle, a basin and a loo. We went in together and as this was no doubt noted by the funny woman we probably had 'brownie' points deducted! The shower room was very modern and just like an en suite bathroom you would find in a new build house. It was also very clean and the shower cubicle was equipped with a shower door wiper/squeegee which we have never seen anywhere before on our travels. There was definitely a bit of obsessive compulsiveness going on here. It very much felt like we were in an episode of the classic comedy 'Keeping Up Appearances' and we were showering in Hyacinth Bucket's bathroom! Once we were showered and feeling fresh we trudged back across the gravel to the camper van. The low cloud was still slowly creeping through the valley and we therefore had a mystical backdrop for our brekky. As soon as we could we hit the road felling quite relieved to be leaving this place. We both felt eyes boring into the back of our heads as we drove off and away. We headed south towards Clifden to see it's suspension bridge. We saw lots of the mystical cloud crawling across the hills and through the valleys on the way. It didn't take us too long to get to the historic bridge which spans the Waiau Rover. It was built in 1899 and is now only open to pedestrians with a new bridge having been built nearby to carry the heavy road traffic. We parked up and went to have a walk over the bridge. Just before the bridge we saw a sign which said 'CAUTION WILD ANIMALS'. We were slightly alarmed as we wondered what sort of heinous creature could warrant such a sign. We had read that there were no dangerous animals in New Zealand so what on earth could this sign be warning of? It was a bit of a mystery. We carried on to the bridge keeping our eyes peeled for lions, grizzly bears and perhaps even huge rhinos. It is an amazing structure and is the longest suspension bridge in New Zealand spanning 111.5 metres. On the way back to the camper van the mystery of the caution sign became apparent as we horrifically came face to face with the most evil looking wild cat that we have ever seen!!! After we had hot footed it back to the camper van without being eaten alive we continued our journey in a southerly direction. After a short while we reached the south coast and the road then hugged the shoreline. Along the way we stopped at McCrackens Rest and looked out to the ocean and along the dramatic timber strewn beach. From here we headed around the edge of Invercargill before continuing south to a place called Bluff which is the southern most town in New Zealand. It is not quite the furthest southerly point in the country, that is Slope Point a little further along the coast, but it is more accessible as Highway 1 finishes/starts here. Bluff is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country particularly with the phrase "from Cape Reinga to The Bluff". We arrived at The Bluff under a very overcast sky which was threatening rain. It was a very industrial place and looked tatty and uncared for. It was rough around the edges and exuded a miserable air. We followed Highway 1 all the way to the very end and felt satisfied that we had done Cape Reinga to The Bluff. We had been all the way from the top to the bottom of this infuriating country. We took some photos of us under the sign pointing to various places including Cape Reinga, 1401 kilometres away. This is the furthest point that we have ever been away from home as from here the sign states 18,958 kilometres to London. We returned to the camper van as it started spitting and we drove to a lookout at the top of a very steep hill from where we had a panoramic view of the ocean and the rough and ready Bluff. We had some lunch here before going to find the camp site which was just outside Invercargill. It was a farm camp site and we were looking forward to going there. We got a really friendly welcome and we chose a nice quiet spot from where we had a view of the fields and all the animals. When we parked up we were greeted by a brood of hens who came over and clucked us a welcome. There was a veritable concoction of animals here. As well as the hens there were lambs, calfs, a goat and two incredibly cute alpacas. We really love the alpacas who are such comical creatures. We are looking forward to being able to help feed the animals in the morning. We spent the rest of the day watching the wildlife and chilling out. Around tea time it started to properly rain and the wind really picked up. We went to sleep with the wind swaying the van and the rattle of raindrops on the roof.
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