Invercargill to Fiordland

Today I continued my perambulations along the southern scenic route. Soon after I left Invercargill, I started to see tall mountains with a little snow on their peaks. As the land around Invercargill is fairly flat, I didn’t expect to see Fiordland in the distance quite so soon. The road continued around the coast, and when I stopped at Monkey Island, Fiordland was just the other side of the enormous bay. I could also see Stewart Island. 

At the turnoff to Monkey Island, several cars followed me, all with surfboards on their roofs, but the waves were pretty small, and they all departed quickly for another beach. 

Further along the coast, I lost sight of Stewart Island and the waves were reasonably sizeable. With the Fiordland mountains behind the waves, I thought this could be a poster for New Zealand tourism. 

Then there was Gemstone Beach, with grey sand and people collecting gemstones on the beach. 

The road left the coast just after Riverton. From there, the views were of Fiordland coming closer. I stopped to walk to an oxbow lake, which was very pretty, 

and again at a suspension bridge, and to view the river. 

Both were on the river flowing from Manapouri, where I was headed.