A lot going on at the butt of the world

Despite its bad reputation, Invercargill has a lot to offer. Located at the southern end of the South Island, the city is mostly frequented by tourists passing through to catch the ferry to Stewart Island.

You could clearly feel that in the city, I felt like I was the only tourist in all of Invercargill. Which is good. That's exactly what I was looking for.

The first thing I noticed, actually when we left Te Anau, is the completely different character. Instead of narrow, windy roads through mountain landscapes, you drive on long, straight roads through flat farmland. It reminded me a bit of my home...

Invercargill itself doesn't have a single curved road, everything is square. That is quite atypical for New Zealand.

Furthermore, the city is known for two things: cars and old buildings.
Both of which are not really my thing, but I still went on the Heritage Trail through the city, which takes you to the historic buildings. 'Historic' means that most of them were built in the early 20th century...
Most of the buildings were actually quite pretty! I definitely appreciated that more than the Art Deco style of Napier.

So I spent the first half of the morning strolling around the city, looking at the streets here, sniffing around there.

After a while, I stood in front of the gates to Queens Park, a huge park right in the center of Invercargill.
This park has pretty much everything you could build in a park. Unfortunately, the museum was closed last year, but there was still so much more:

For the first time, I actually consciously noticed and explored a rose garden. I never realized how many different types there are and how funny their names can be. My top five: Sexy Rexy, Blushing Pink Iceberg, Disco Dancer, Auckland Metro, and Bright as a Button. I have no idea how someone comes up with such names for a rose (!)...

After that, I went to the Stumpery, there is no German translation for that. Some clever people have dug up the roots of trees and built a kind of covered walkway out of the abstract wood. Maybe you have to look at the photos at this point...
Oh, and the trees were brought down in severe storms, no tree had to be cut down for the Stumpery.

Furthermore, in Queens Park there were several aviaries with native birds, a wildlife reserve (with rabbits), a playground, a kiosk, and a fitness track, which unfortunately I didn't try.

The park took more time than I had anticipated, so afterwards I went to Warehouse to buy some everyday things.

And then I just ran out of energy and didn't feel like doing anything else. My host would only pick me up in the late afternoon, so I sat down in a cafe that had a mega offer: coffee and a muffin for $7! Yummy...