Bluff and Stirling Point

It was a chilly day when we drove out to see Bluff. It took us about half an hour from where we were staying on the north side of Invercargill. Up at the Bluff Hill lookout, you walk around the outside of this structure at it spirals to the top.

The view from the top.

Further around the coast, we came to the Stirling Point Pilot Station . . .

. . . and another iconic view—the giant anchor chain sculpture illustrating the mythological link between Maui's canoe (this one) and the anchor stone (a replica of this on Stewart Island).

We started to walk along a track, thinking a short walk would be quite nice and would probably warm us up a bit. A map showed a loop trail and so off we set. Soon we were wondering if we would ever reach the turn off to start the loop back. Then once we found it, it started a steep uphill climb. I wondered if we'd bitten off a bit more than we'd intended to, but there was no turning back now. 

The bird life was wonderful. We saw a number of keruru and several bellbirds.

There were so many tuis as well—not very afraid of us. We managed to get quite close.

The native bush was beautiful. 

Finally, at the top, we arrived at this structure, which was a WWII gun emplacement.

At little further on we came across this observation point. Also a leftover from WWII.

From here we had a great view of the lighthouse on Dog Island. That's Ruapuke Island further out.

Fortunately it was downhill the rest of the way and we could soon see our starting point in the distance. If you're planning on this "short" circuit, allow about 1.5 hours, and be aware there's a bit of uphill tramping. The bush and birds are worth it, though.

Before leaving Bluff, Dave was happy to find himself some raw Bluff oysters. < Ugh! > After we got back to the rig, he bought me half a dozen of the cooked variety, and we both enjoyed a late lunch.

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