1. Tuatapere famous sausage(Not open)
2. Mrs Clarks Cafe, a hidden gem in Riverton!
3. Invercargill Barnes Oyster(Not open)
4. The world most southern Starbuck at Invercargill
5. Slope point, the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand
6. Curio Bay wild yellow-eyed penguin
When we covered southern scenic route, the route started from Te Anau and ended at Dunedin, via Invercargill. The route covers some of the most spectacular coastal sceneries with remote beaches, lush rainforest and stunning mountains for few hours short trekking or multiday trekking, rural settings for wildlife watching and many many more. Now the route has been extended from Te Anau to Queenstown. Check out the official website at the bottom of this post for more information.
Cliffden suspension bridge
Tuatapere, sausage capital of New Zealand
Craved for some good quality home made sausage
But our wishes did not come true. If you passby Tuatapere, you can easily spot the shop in the town.
We had lunch at Mrs Clark Cafe at Riverton, a restaurant with good review in tripadvisor.
the restaurant setting
Once we stepped into the restaurant, we knew that we had come to the right place. In a small town like Riverton, the restaurant was considerably big and business was good too.
We took a table by the window.
Soup of the day with bread
We had our first and only southland cheese roll. Authentic and yummy!
Salmon cake was good too!
Last but not least, a cup of cappucino.
We went to Barnes Oysters factory for the freshest bluff oyster in New Zealand.
But again it was closed. :( We then proceed to Pak n Save and managed to buy a dozen of fresh bluff oyster. I have no idea if the Barnes Oysters are fresher, but the oysters we bought from Pak n Save Invercargill was the freshest oysters we had in New Zealand.
Starbuck Invercargill
Inside starbuck
It is the most southern starbucks in the world.
Sea lion on the beach
Light house at Waipapa point
One of the many view points
I could still remember that it was freezing cold when I walked to the slope point.
on the way to slope point
another angle
Yes, we made it to slope point. It was the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand. And it was only 4803 from the south pole.
The rugged coastline offered many stunning views.
The wind was so strong that the tree was totally out of shape.
We felt that we were so close to the nature.
At 5pm, we reached Curio Bay, Catlins. After we placed our luggage at Salthouse, we came out for free peguin watching at petrified forest. We had some Arnott shortbread and green tea while waiting for the penguins to return home. It was a blessing to have something hot at this temperature.
reading the sign board while waiting
Can you spot the tiny white spot coming out from the bush? I bet you can.
How about this one? There were actually two penguins out there. Even with 70-200 f2.8 zoom lens, this is what I could get.
Ok. Here is a better picture. Can you see it? Everyone was so excited with the penguins. In New Zealand, they have put a lot of efforts into wildlife protection. Therefore, we can not disturb the penguin and can only view them from far. Anyway I prefer this experience compare to watching the penguins in the zoo. This is more interesting!
Southern Scenic Route
View website