May 20, 2007
After checking out of the Anchorage Motel at 10, we headed to Fiordland Lobster Company. We were scheduled to meet Mike Schuck, the President of the Te Anau Rotary Club, there at 10:30 but we were early because Te Anau’s a small town and we didn’t get lost trying to locate the building. We sat in the car viewing a rainbow until Mike arrived with his three young kids: Lucy (almost 4), Thomas (almost 6) and Ben (almost 10).
The entrance to the building was pretty standard office-y. However, when we entered the back of the building we were able to view the different holding tanks for the different sized rock lobsters. The boys found a lobster that had crawled out of the water and onto the floor and they weren’t afraid to pick up the lobster either!
The lobsters are kept alive in New Zealand and they fly them out to China alive too. For weddings, it is customary to have a HUMONGOUS lobster on the table to demonstrate a family’s wealth.
The company may hold onto their lobster stockpile if prices dip. When a shipment is ready to go out, the lobsters are packed into crates (usually only two lobsters will fit into a crate). The lobsters are driven from Te Anau to Christchurch and from there they are flown to China.
We spent about 30 minutes at the lobster company and then we departed Te Anau after deciding to drive the Southern Scenic Route to reach Fortrose. The Southern Scenic Route took us through Manapouri again and then farther south than we have ever been. We pulled off to view a suspension bridge, however, it wasn’t too impressive and Josh wondered why there was even a sign to indicate its presence along the road.
It became clear that we were leaving the mountains behind us and entering flatter country which made for nice driving conditions for Josh. It was a sunny day too and after having spent two days in the fiords with gray and rainy conditions, we were ready for some sunlight! When we spotted the ocean coast for the first time, I got out to take some pictures.
As we drove along, we came to the town of Riverton which is where the Paua factory outlet store is located. Josh and I went in to have a look around even though the sign said that they are closed during the month of May. We confirmed with the teenage shop clerk that we were on the right road to Invercargill and then we were on our way.
Upon reaching Invercargill, it was time for some lunch. McDonalds sounded good, however, once we drove up to the building we saw some of the most ridiculous lines we’ve experienced anywhere in New Zealand excepting the drive thru McDonald’s in Palmerston North. We couldn’t for the life of us figure out why this place was so juiced on a Sunday afternoon at 2:00. Josh and I split into two lines to see which one would be shorter. The power of divide and conquer.
Except that Josh called me over to his line to early. While the couple in front of him had paid, they had not received their food and by the time they did, the three people who had been behind me in the line I’d been standing in had already ordered and got their food. Josh made the point that we were waiting for McDonald’s not waiting for tickets to some great show or something so why the big rush?
We went to the Pak N Save for some groceries since the place we’d be staying at tonight had a full kitchen. We bought Tim Tams because they were on sale and soups, bread, ham, cheese, granola bars, and chips. Josh also spotted our first Dr. Pepper can in New Zealand. They had Dr. Pepper on sale for $2.20 per can and the soda was sold on a shelf with other foreign and exotic foods. Funny!
We drove out of Invercargill towards Fortrose. The sun was just gorgeous on the green hills and the white sheep. The road here was flatter than anywhere we’d been in a while so that was a really nice and welcomed change. We went to check in at the owners home and she had us follow behind her in our car as we drove down the road a bit and then up a hill and around a bend. It was nothing like the winding back road to reach the cottage in Motueka but I could see the fear coming back on Josh’s face.
When we got out of the car, the view and the cottage were just AWESOME. We could see Bluff Hill and Stewart Island in the distance and there was also a distant ocean view. The cottage itself was more than I expected with two, rather than one, bedrooms. Jeanette got us sorted out about the local sites to see before leaving us alone in the wonderful cottage.
After checking out of the Anchorage Motel at 10, we headed to Fiordland Lobster Company. We were scheduled to meet Mike Schuck, the President of the Te Anau Rotary Club, there at 10:30 but we were early because Te Anau’s a small town and we didn’t get lost trying to locate the building. We sat in the car viewing a rainbow until Mike arrived with his three young kids: Lucy (almost 4), Thomas (almost 6) and Ben (almost 10).
The entrance to the building was pretty standard office-y. However, when we entered the back of the building we were able to view the different holding tanks for the different sized rock lobsters. The boys found a lobster that had crawled out of the water and onto the floor and they weren’t afraid to pick up the lobster either!
The lobsters are kept alive in New Zealand and they fly them out to China alive too. For weddings, it is customary to have a HUMONGOUS lobster on the table to demonstrate a family’s wealth.The company may hold onto their lobster stockpile if prices dip. When a shipment is ready to go out, the lobsters are packed into crates (usually only two lobsters will fit into a crate). The lobsters are driven from Te Anau to Christchurch and from there they are flown to China.
We spent about 30 minutes at the lobster company and then we departed Te Anau after deciding to drive the Southern Scenic Route to reach Fortrose. The Southern Scenic Route took us through Manapouri again and then farther south than we have ever been. We pulled off to view a suspension bridge, however, it wasn’t too impressive and Josh wondered why there was even a sign to indicate its presence along the road.
It became clear that we were leaving the mountains behind us and entering flatter country which made for nice driving conditions for Josh. It was a sunny day too and after having spent two days in the fiords with gray and rainy conditions, we were ready for some sunlight! When we spotted the ocean coast for the first time, I got out to take some pictures.
As we drove along, we came to the town of Riverton which is where the Paua factory outlet store is located. Josh and I went in to have a look around even though the sign said that they are closed during the month of May. We confirmed with the teenage shop clerk that we were on the right road to Invercargill and then we were on our way.
Upon reaching Invercargill, it was time for some lunch. McDonalds sounded good, however, once we drove up to the building we saw some of the most ridiculous lines we’ve experienced anywhere in New Zealand excepting the drive thru McDonald’s in Palmerston North. We couldn’t for the life of us figure out why this place was so juiced on a Sunday afternoon at 2:00. Josh and I split into two lines to see which one would be shorter. The power of divide and conquer.
Except that Josh called me over to his line to early. While the couple in front of him had paid, they had not received their food and by the time they did, the three people who had been behind me in the line I’d been standing in had already ordered and got their food. Josh made the point that we were waiting for McDonald’s not waiting for tickets to some great show or something so why the big rush?
We went to the Pak N Save for some groceries since the place we’d be staying at tonight had a full kitchen. We bought Tim Tams because they were on sale and soups, bread, ham, cheese, granola bars, and chips. Josh also spotted our first Dr. Pepper can in New Zealand. They had Dr. Pepper on sale for $2.20 per can and the soda was sold on a shelf with other foreign and exotic foods. Funny!
We drove out of Invercargill towards Fortrose. The sun was just gorgeous on the green hills and the white sheep. The road here was flatter than anywhere we’d been in a while so that was a really nice and welcomed change. We went to check in at the owners home and she had us follow behind her in our car as we drove down the road a bit and then up a hill and around a bend. It was nothing like the winding back road to reach the cottage in Motueka but I could see the fear coming back on Josh’s face.
When we got out of the car, the view and the cottage were just AWESOME. We could see Bluff Hill and Stewart Island in the distance and there was also a distant ocean view. The cottage itself was more than I expected with two, rather than one, bedrooms. Jeanette got us sorted out about the local sites to see before leaving us alone in the wonderful cottage. The sun was setting and we enjoyed that for awhile. The cottage came with both trim and regular milk as well as a complementary bottle of champagne. Nice! We hung out with the electric heater that was designed to look like a log burner. We made burritos with chips and salsa for dinner and they were very tasty. 
I started some laundry…or tried to start some laundry. For the life of me I could not figure out how to get the water to flow into the machine. Josh called the owner and she explained the process and we were set on laundry from that point forward.
That night, it was beyond windy in the cottage. I seriously thought the roof was going to blow off of the house. We didn’t get the best sleep tonight because the wind never let up from its incessant howling.
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