Invercargill

We have no idea what to expect of Invercargill, NZ's most southern city. What we find is a slightly beat up, blue collar fishing town.

There are some stops we want to make — the Invercargill Brewery, the local fish shop and The Blue River Dairy which apparently produces award winning sheep's milk cheeses.

We plan on stopping for lunch at the brewery and sampling a few pints, but it is a small operation with no accompanying restaurant. We navigate ourselves to the fish shop instead for fish and chips which the guidebook says are very good, but we find them to be ho-hum. There is plenty of fresh caught fish in stock — cod, monkfish, warehou, snapper — and we buy some for our dinner.








The dairy is located in a dubious part of town and there are no indications of any store. I go in a door labelled Reception to find a secretary at a desk and beside her, a small fridge which constitutes the cheese shop. There is, however, a varied selection of cheeses, all made with sheep's milk. We take some of the pecorino and feta.

At the brewery, we chat with one of the brewmasters who takes his time giving us a full rundown on their brews. He smells a bit like a horse stable — something to do with the brewing process, we assume. They have some good beers, our favorite being their staple beer, the Invercargill Pitch Black Premium Stout with hints of coffee and chocolate. Yum...






It is from the brewmaster in the Invercargill Brewery that we first hear about the earthquake in Christchurch.

As the day goes on, we learn more bits and pieces. Driving to Te Aune from Invercargill, we turn on the radio and learn 10 people have died. Even though the quake is smaller in scale than the previous 7.1 in September, the destruction is much more extensive due to how shallow (close to the surface) the quake was. The epi centre is Lyttleton, which is just outside of Christchurch, on the Banks Peninsula. Only a few days ago, I was reading about the town in the guidebook as we decided whether to stop there and look around. Apparently, it is now devastated. Christchurch too is a mess. The epi centre being so close to the centre of the city, there is much destruction of the buildings.

At our campsite in Te Auna, we learn more. People are glued to the TV in the lounge. The deaths now total 65 and people are still being rescued from collapsed buildings. Most of Christchurch is shut down, with no water or power. In the morning, we learn that the number of deaths has dropped to 35, which is some good news amongst the bad. We wait and see what will become of the city and hope for the very best for those affected.