Invercargill

Invercargil is a medium sized town at the southern end of the South island and is agricultural in setting and people. Lots of sheep farms and some deer farms as well. The weather has turned cold and wet so we headed for downtown and the city museum.

The museum has a great display of live Tuatara lizards. This is Henry the patriarch of the clan. Henry is 110 years old and is going strong. The Tuatara is only found in New Zealand and obviously has a very long life span. The museum has started a breeding program which has been quite successful and has allowed for some Tuatara to be given to other facilities. Jordan, what do you think? Pretty cool critter, huh?

After the museum, we took a walk in Queens park. It's a large park with a aviary, small animal area as well as gardens and a playground. The day was gloomy but the park was beautiful so all was well.

Time for another flat kids moment. They sure are having fun! Here they're playing on the lawn of the Manor B&B where we are staying. Sheep surround the house and our hosts Pat and Frank are making them feel right at home. The Manor is about 8km from Invercargill and is situated in the middle of sheep farms ( is anything not in the middle of a sheep farm down here?). Tomorrow we will head for the ferry to Stewart Island and a tour of the island. Weather looks a little shaky but we're going just the same.