Continuing my drive south from Christchurch, I headed to Dunedin for the night. It was a long drive through flat, rural countryside. The mountains to the west were not visible and this was the only stretch where you had a long, straight highway. Every so often I would cross a wide river basin on a narrow bridge with no shoulder or walkway. Lots of bike riders follow this road and it seems extremely dangerous to me on this bridges, some of which are at least a mile long.
From Dunedin I drove to Bluff, where they say you are in the southernmost settlement in New Zealand... But not really, there is a town on Stewart Island just south of here. Anyway, it's as far south as you can drive. I stayed at this cool little place called Lands End B&B, the last place at the end of the southernmost road.
The next day I was up early to hike a few miles around to the southern tip of New Zealand and was swarmed by biting sand flies, common here but unheard of in Colorado. Like mosquitos, they are tiny and leave itchy welts. The all-natural bug repellent I bought worked very well once I put it on. I got to the southernmost point on the South Island and walked out to the top of the sea cliff to take the pic below. There were climbing anchors here, you can toprope the south point of New Zealand, it turns out.
I then climbed the short hike up to the bluff where some of the hike is in a bush tunnel as shown below.
A good day and a milestone, I had driven almost the entire length of this country. Next, I headed toward the Southern Alps.
Sitting on the southernmost rock point of the South Island. Stewart Island in the background.
Trail into the dark!
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