Postkiwi Duncan Macleod

While visiting family in Invercargill last week I took the time to climb Bluff Hill (Motupōhue), the extinct volcanic cone that rises up above the port and town of Bluff. The walk for us began at Stirling Point, after a feed of seafood at the Drunken Sailor Cafe and Bar. Stirling Point is the southernmost point on New Zealand’s State Highway 1 which explains the euphoria we witnessed when two cyclists turned up after a ride that began at Cape Reinga in the North. As the sign below indicates, I’m standing 1401 km from Cape Reinga and 2000 km from Sydney.

Foveaux Strait, the sea between the South Island (Te Wai Pounamu) and Stewart Island (Rakiura), is not known for its tranquility. We had a visual reminder of this when we came to Foveaux Strait Lookout Point and found a plaque dedicated to the people who died on the Southern Air Cessna that crashed into the sea on Wednesday August 19, 1998. The Cessna 402C was on a scheduled flight from Stewart Island to Invercargill when both engines failed and the plane ditched in Foveaux Strait. Five passengers were pulled out of the water but three passengers and the pilot did not have lifejackets and died of hypothermia. One passenger was missing, presumed drowned.

Parts of the walk along the coast are sheltered from the prevailing South Westerlies, allowing for the native forest and ferns to develop.

We took the Millennium Track, a steep climb from Lookout Point to the top of Bluff Hill. It’s strange dealing with the cold wind while heating up inside with the exercise.

At the top of Bluff Hill there’s a brilliant lookout area, providing views over to Stewart Island and the many other islands of Foveaux Strait, down over the port, Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter, and over towards Invercargill, 30 kms north. It was hard keeping the camera still enough for photos though.

We took the Glory Track down the hill, which is well maintained with steps and dry gravel-lined paths. We came across this amazing scene in the middle of a clearing, with exotic buttercups (Ranunculus Repens) growing among the native ferns.

The Glory Track ends at the Gun Pits, with the remains of the WWII coastal defence system. We found evidence of artistic tourism on one of the concrete bunkers…