Heading as Far South as we can Go!

We’ve hit the northernmost point of New Zealand, way up at Cape Reinga, and so it was only fitting that we also reach the southernmost point. Eric had gotten a temporary job in Queenstown for a few weeks, and had a long weekend after the first job. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to hit the road and go south.

We began our journey south, spending the night in a quiet little town called Lumsden. They had a nice little freedom campsite in the middle of town, right by an old train station. It was one of the nicer freedom camping spots that we have stayed in, and if we’re ever in the area again, we would absolutely spend another night there. Unfortunately for Lumsden, there really isn’t anything to do around the area, but it made a good stopping point between Queenstown and Invercargill.

The weather this weekend left much to be desired, with gloomy rainy days and windy evenings. We reached Invercargill in the morning, and decided to take the opportunity to shower at one of the showers in the city. We got incredibly lucky here, and walked right past a little street market, where we got deep fried crab cakes on a stick, drizzled in sweet and sour sauce (um, yum!) and beef empanadas (also very good, but you really just can’t compete with crab). The weather was still rather drab so we continued on south, saying goodbye to Invercargill.

Now, there is some debate as to which point is truly the southernmost point. The first point we went to, Sterling Point (Latitude being 46.6134° S), seemed to be the ‘popularized’ point, with a cafe and large parking lot. It was raining very hard when we got there, so we got out, took some pictures, talked to GoPro a little, and got back in the car. It was cool to say we were there, but there are other things I would prefer to explore a little more if we ever are back in this area in better weather.

Then, on we go, to what we have been calling the real southernmost point of mainland New Zealand. This point, called Slope Point, is definitely further south, and felt a little more realistic. The latitude for this point is 46.6595° S, which in fact confirms that it is further south. It was not a commercialized area at all, in fact, it was the exact opposite. There was a small carpark, surrounded by farmland. We actually had to walk through some sheep pasture to get to the signpost in the ground, the signifier of the Southernmost Point. The weather had thankfully cleared up a little by this time, because it was a short hike across the pasture and along some coast land before we reached the landmark.

Overall, it was worth going to see the Southernmost Point, and continuing on to the real Southernmost Point of mainland New Zealand, but it was unfortunate that the weather was so uncooperative. At least it is one more thing for us to check off of our New Zealand bucket list!