Southwest coast and mountains

About ten days ago I had to do some interviews in Riverton and Tuatapere, two towns on the south coast, west of Invercargill. The interviews were three days apart, so in between them, we went up into the mountains and stayed at Manapouri, one of the towns on the eastern edge of Fjordland and one of the gateways to the fjords. We didn't actually take a trip to the fjords, just got to the jumping off place. But it was still very beautiful. Dave spent a day fishing on the Whitestone River and caught two very big fish, so he was a happy camper. The first photo is Riverton and the mouth of the Oreti River (just past the rocky headland in the photo).

Here are some photos of the southwest coast, with one that includes our trusty Honda Civic, one of the roomiest small cars we've ever had (a four door hatchback is a great arrangement). Of course, it has the steering wheel on the right hand side of the car. I still cannot walk to the correct door of the car. I always walk to the wrong side. I've learned that if I'm with Dave, I should just watch where he's going and walk to the other door, even though it feels wrong. I'm doing pretty well driving on the left side of the road, it's just the pesky car doors I can't seem to get straight.

The next two photos show the approach to the mountains, where the farmland ends and the mountains begin. These are the first mountains we'd seen since leaving Seattle, and it was interesting to see how much we had missed mountains, despite all the beautiful scenery we've seen.

The next four photos show Lake Manapouri, which is the gateway to a fjord called Doubtful Sound. To get to Doubtful Sound you take a boat across Lake Manapouri (much further than the distance you can see in the photos because the lake takes a turn off to the left around that headland in the first photo), a bus ride over a mountain pass, and then a boat into the Sound. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful of all the fjords, with lots of wildlife. Someday we'll do that trip.