Invercargill

The new day at Monkey Island was also sunny, but nevertheless we packed up and headed to Invercargill, staying at the NZMCA Park. We intended to spend 2 nights here, with one day spent exploring Bluff, and the other going to a place called Demolition World. The last thing on Bruce’s “must do” list, was having a feed of Bluff oysters.

The NZMCA Park at Invercargill is a little unique in that it has a definite maritime theme. The signing in kiosk is the cabin of an old steel boat, there is garden art made of sea faring flotsam and jetsom, and lots and lots of oyster shells lining the driveways. The park is next to the riverside park, so a good place to walk the dogs. A part of the park is dedicated to remembering the early rail pioneers as that is how Invercargill was founded.

We did not know what we were in for with our visit to Demolition World. It is an active demolition yard where you can buy all sorts of used building materials. We thought it had a nice garden with maybe garden art made of recycled stuff? Well, that was a bit off the mark! We were met by one of the owners, and led through a yard full of ducks and geese (with a few peacocks and chickens added to the mix), and then sent off down a cobbled and overgrown path.

What greeted us next was a series of cabins, all with a theme of some sort.

They were stuffed with manequins dressed for the part and artefacts also pertaining to the theme. There would have been maybe 20-25 cabins.

The Church had been rescued from Tarras after it had been badly damaged by fire. The remains were put together in a different way to become part of Demolition World.

It took us a long time to go through all the exhibits. Some were packed with heaps of antiques, such as the toy cabin, but others were just quirky, such as the outhouse. Every where there were little quirks where you least expected them –

The path finally took us back to the poultry yard but that was also quirky in that it had a big playground and further on, a pond area.

Apparently this had been built up over a period of 26 years by the owners. Some of it is looking worse for wear, and the multitude of windblown leaves in the doorways of the cabins probably didn’t help, but we had a wonderful time nevertheless. The only down point was that I misjudged where the edge of a boardwalk was in the process of my taking photos, resulting in me re-damaging my hamstring – ouch!!! I think I will have to book in to physio somewhere.