Southern Scenic Route: to Te Anau

Out of Invercargill the Southern Scenic Route lost some of it's winding character, but not any of it's scenic value. The mountains reappeared on the horizon. The sheep grazed in flat fields stretching away to the mountains like a scene from Heidi. As the road bent back toward the coast we noticed many windswept trees growing in the direction opposite the shoreline. We crested a hill and were greeted with a stunning vista of the waves crashing against the beach in front of a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. Both of us exclaimed, 'Wow!' at the same time.

We pulled up in the small town of Tautapere, New Zealand's sausage capital. Unfortunately it being a Sunday, the butcher shop that makes and sells said sausages was closed. A fact I found to be quite annoying. At Clifden there is a pretty little suspension bridge. We stopped for some photographs and a leg-stretcher. There is a campsite there which might have tempted us had vehicles been allowed.

In the town of Te Anau, the end of the Southern Scenic Route, we found the caravan park that we'd picked out. Happily it was the first one we came to on the road. It sits over the road from the lake from which the town gets it's name and thus has very pretty views. In town I sated my hunger on a very good venison pie. We spent some time walking by the lake and admiring the view. A small sea-plane buzzed back and forth landing and taking off on the lake, no doubt giving scenic flights around the lake and mountains.