New Zealand Road-Trip: Part Three

Invercargill
And there we were, the southern tip of mainland New Zealand. What island just south of Invercargill? I assure you that there is no Stewart Island there that I didn't go to. I definitely went to the southernmost point in New Zealand. Yes I did. Shut up.
Sparky's
This is where we stayed the night before. Unlike the other hostels we had stayed at, this one was someone's house. The owner (who I deem to be "Sparky") converted his house into a hostel. The showers were similar to the ones in Dunedin, but not painful. So that's a plus.

We had themed rooms. This was the modern art theme.

Visitor map. Guess who put Chico on the map?

There were only three rules at Sparky's:

1. Don't talk about Sparky's (oops)
2. Leave your shoes outside
3. Don't crack your knuckles

Sights

Freshly rested and able to crack our knuckles, we decided to see some of Invercargill's sights. But this day was different; this day was my day to drive!

Driving is...interesting. Essentially, driving in New Zealand is just like driving in a mirror. Absolutely everything is backwards. And actually, that makes driving a bit easier than I imagined driving would be. However, a few minutes after I started driving, I had a mini heart attack because I felt relaxed enough that I thought I had accidentally started driving on the wrong (right) side of the road. So look out for that.

Once the defibrillator had revived me, I drove us to a view of the southern coast. 

Look how close I am to New York

Sometimes I think about things

I got this, guys

This is a space toilet. Featuring automatic doors

Wonderland Castle

One of the sights we missed was a castle in Dunedin, apparently one of the few castles in the Southern Hemisphere. To make up for it, we tried to find Wonderland Castle in Invercargill.

Here it is! Complete with slides

It turns out that Wonderland Castle is a play area in a park. So it's 76 times better than finding a real castle, because this one had slides!

Rose Garden

Invercargill-Milford Sound

One of the memories I will look back on the most is this driving experience. Until this point, the scenery from the road had been amazing (to say the least), but being in the driver's seat gave me a feeling of truly being on the road in New Zealand. The expanse of the environment overcame me with a sense of awe. At that point I realised the scope of embarking on a road-trip in New Zealand.

I took some pictures when I wasn't driving.

Monkey Island

In front of the Tasman Sea

A bridge (over water)

Sometimes we have fun

Te Anau

Inbetween Invercargill and Milford Sound is a town named Te Anau. You want to see it? No? Of course you do!

Camping

The rest of my drive was less eventful since it was getting dark, but we found our campsite. Only a few problems remained. This calls for another numbered list. Two problems came up when I parked our car at the campsite:

1. I have never camped in a tent before
2. It was night when we got there

Luckily, I split a tent with Alex and Thomas, and Thomas had experience camping. So he showed us how to set up a tent, in the dark, in the rain. It was a good thing I brought my torch with me to light up our work.

Sleep took us quickly, and what we awoke to were the greatest views in all of New Zealand. Find out what they look like next time!