Hello from Invergargill - the southern tip of NZ

Today Thursday 26th we are venturing onto Stewarts Island which is just offshore from Invergargill and is termed an ecological island with spectacular views and bays I hope that we will see something quite unique to NZ. Yesterday we went to a local Museum in Invergargill which house (for some unexplained reason) a prehistoric reptile – a tuatara. Apparently this reptile, which resembles a lizard is supposed to be a possible missing link between the dinosaurs and birds. The reptile has feather like bristles along its spine and a mouth which is more akin to that of a bird. These reptiles were ‘saved’ from extinction by being resident in a small area of NZ, although they were prevalent throughout the globe, this colony was saved. They have remained unchanged genetically for over 150 million years. A curator of the local Museum has become an expert in ‘breeding’ these reptiles and has the distinguished reputation of being their savior. The ‘beast’ I have been talking about is shown below


On a lighter note we are still amazed on the natural beauty of the countryside. It’s has been a ‘wet’ summer and so the grass and the hedgerows are very green and in the late summer sunshine look very attractive. We saw lots of rolling hills just as one would traveling around southern England and many small hamlets – the main building being a bungalow !!
The standard of hotels has been great and the New Zealanders very friendly and quite knowledgeable of events in the UK. Certainly knew were there to escape the cold blast we had from Russia early in February !! We have not checked the weather in the UK - we just hope that you are seeing a sign of spring !! Will write more after the weekend.,