It should only take us a couple of hours driving to make it to Invercargill and on the map it looks about as direct as any of the drives so far on the Grand Tour.
It was a bit sad to be moving on from such and well appointed apartment but the adventure on Stewart Island beckons.
One would think there was no other highway to take us down to Invercargill but Highway 6 which we have been on since Nelson. There really isnt another option as we start out from Queenstown, so 6 it is!
Sometimes when you are speeding along the highway you cant pick up the name of any little side road that you pass but there was one this morning that caught our eye.
In this politically correct world that seems to dominate these days as we passed by Maori Jack Road that ran down to the lake, we wondered whether the name of the road might be changed when we pass by here again to keep everyone happy.The road was named for a
local Maori man who was credited with being the first to find gold at Jacks Point just outside of Queenstown.So perhaps the name can stay.
Soaring up towards the sky to the left of us were the Remarkables with its highest point being Double Cone at 2324metres.For the past 3 days we have had a wonderful clear view of this imposing mountain range. And when you are driving beneath it and looking almost directly skywards to take in the tops, the Remarkables can make you feel very insignificant.
Driving on towards Kingston we had to slow and take evasive action to allow a hawk to continue to stand over a possum road kill that the bird had decided to own.
This hadnt been the first time on the Grand Tour that a hawk guarding its ‘property ‘had given us the eye as we slowed down because it was on the edge of the road as we approached.
More local animals came into sight a few corners further on as we caught up with something we didnt think was part of the NZ Highway scene these days, sheep being moved between paddocks on the highway.
was a large flock of sheep but with an energetic dog in front of our car yapping and barking, the way ahead on the right hand side of the road was being cleared for us to proceed slowly.
For the first time in 4 days we noticed a light breeze as we turned off the highway and drove down to the old Kingston Railway Station in the hope that we might catch a glimpse of AB795 the steam engine known as ‘The Kingston Flyer that once hauled the NZ Royal train.
The station is still there and for all intents and purposes is now a caf. What was encouraging was to note that the rail tracks were still there and looked like they had been used recently.
A look back at where we had crossed the rail line revealed a locked gate with a small shunting engine, carriages AND The Kingston Flyer behind the barrier!
As we took photos a man came along and Gretchen got into talking with him. He explained that he was battling beauracry to get a permit to run The Kingston Flyer on a regular basis so he could offer a service
to the general public with timetabled runs down to Fairlight about half an hour away where the rails are still laid to.The ‘Flyer had been out on a private corporate occasion at the weekend.
We had ridden the train many years ago when we holidayed in the South Island with our girls and it was a very enjoyable occasion and one that would still bring to pleasure to many people if only the powers that be and some locals who ‘dont want a steam train in their ‘backyard, would allow it to happen. Apparently there is a petition online to support the reinstatement of the train so anyone reading this and who love steam trains find the petition on the internet and get your signature to it!
The railway line south of Fairlight was taken up in ????as road transport was more flexible and probably more efficient than NZ Railways, which didnt have a great reputation.
