After our little visit to Invercargill and the Southland Museum, we meandered about 20 km down to the village of Bluff. This small town is snuggled at the foot of Bluff Hill (elevation 260 metres) and is steeped in the history of whaling, shipping, and other searfaring industries. There were numerous historic buildings throughout the town and several of them had wonderful murals. The view from the top of Bluff's Hill (360° panorama) was well worth driving up the steep, narrow road. Originally, there were semaphores that alerted pilots that whaling ships needed escort into the harbor. During WWII, Coastal Defence installed radars to detect small boats and submarines. We took advantage of the clear weather to enjoy views of Stewart Island to the south and Slope Point to the east.
After crawling down the hill in low gear, we followed the coastline around to Stirling Point. This is the traditional southernmost point on the South Island (even though Slope Point is further south) and is commemorated in a New Zealand folk song. The New Zealand Automobile Association (AA) had to change the signpost since the distance to Cape Reinga on this sign was different than the corresponding sign at Cape Reinga (which had the distance to Bluff). We also stopped by the Pilot Station (with the short lighthouse) – this is where the pilot boats would watch for the semaphore signal from the top of the hill and then meet ships to guide them into the harbor. Our last stop was at a coastal gun defence station on the ridge behind Stirling Point. This afforded good views of the coast, especially the lighthouse at Dog Island (the tallest in New Zealand; http://www.newzealandlighthouses.com/dog_island.htm).
