Today was a lovely day spent travelling through lovely country (and of course having sunshine really helped too), and we saw plenty of beautiful stuff. Even watching a sheep dog working a mob of freshly shorn sheep into a new paddock was a pleasure. Those gorgeous dogs are just so-o-o clever.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The day began with a goodbye to our lovely host at the Manor, then we went in search of the vintage bike museum. Now THAT was a treat! Georgie generously wandered off to go shopping for clothes and shoes (poor dear, the trials she has to endure) whilst she left Rod to wander slack jawed and drooling through a magnificent collection of wonderful wonderful wonderful old motorbikes. He truly felt that he’d gone to heaven, particularly when he came across the Britten!! The REAL Britten! Now I’m sure you are all sitting on the edges of your seats as you read this, but just in case there is one person out there who is uneducated as to the significance of this find, here is the explanation:
John Britten was an obscure Kiwi fella who created the world’s most advanced and ground-breaking superbike in his backyard shed ‘way back in the 90s. A machine so advanced that now ALL superbikes have elements of the Britten incorporated into them. So you can imagine how Rod felt to view this masterpiece that he had only previously read about.
Also, of course, Rod also got to see the ‘World’s Fastest Indian’ of Burt Monroe/Anthony Hopkins fame. That, too, was a euphoric experience for the poor wobbly-kneed fellow.
We continued on through the little-bit-boring country around Invercargill, randomly stopping in a weird artist’s gallery where we viewed totally off the planet art, then progressed on to see the fossilised forest at Curio Bay. That was interesting, wandering around at low tide to see the remnants of a carboniferous forest.
Further down the road we came across the Caitlins Forest Park, a gorgeous patch of temperate rainforest that reaches down to the sea. We wandered down to a couple of pretty waterfalls and stopped at lovely lookouts along the way. That is a place that deserves a longer explore when we come back to this lovely isle. The views and even the farming country reminded us of the Dales in Northern England and the Obi Obi Valley in Southern Queensland.
Click to big the pictures up and Rod promised Georgie that he would only ONLY put two motorbike pics in…
I sat in campervan catching up on my diary while Joe was in his element with the bikes! Thanks for bringing back the memories!
these pictures (and your prose) are such a treat. Thank you xx
Ummmm… they don’t look like urinals… did you pee in the handwashing basins?
Beautiful country!