A buzz in Invercargill and the Worlds Fastest Indian

Waipu from the Air

Earlier this year, Lyn and I managed another annual quick trip away and returned once again to the South Island and in particular, Invercargill, where we had a couple of items on our "Bucket List" to tick off. As we can only be absent between print editions of our publication, it means we have often have to return to a venue to settle unfinished business.

We had a difficult flight down, as there had been delays in other districts owing to fog and we were late getting away from Whangarei. It was rather galling to sit atChristchurch airport for 2 1/2 hours, looking out on our original flight which was parked on the runway. They couldn't get us aboard, as it would have muckedup other arrangements, so we arrived in Invercargill late afternoon. We had booked at the Tayester Motor Inn and after checking in, we grabbed a couple of delightful, prepacked roast dinners from a supermarket,that had been discounted owing to the apparently overstocked delicatessen. We were quite hungry and the meal was eaten without further ado! As we were preparing to wash our dishes we suddenly heard a loud buzzing noise coming from the bathroom, so we rushed in to see what was happening. My electric toothbrush was buzzing merrily away on the vanity and no amount of switching it off made one iota of difference. I banged it, squeezed it, threatened it, but to no avail. Then suddenly it stopped! I placed it back in it's charger and left it charging. 5 minutes later it started buzzing again and then it fell on the floor and was pulsating around all over the place like a demented robot. 2 minutes later I had it under control and put it back on charge but it suddenly started buzzing twice more before it suddenly stopped and it has been ok ever since! Must have been the weather, (BTW. If you stay at the Tayester, Unit 7 has the lazy boy chair!)

Queens Garden Invercargill

There are some lovely scenic spots in Invercargill and the next day saw us leave theMotel early (mainly to collect some fresh Bluff oysters from the wholesaler) and we visited a number of popular tourist spots including the Queens Gardens and the Museum. The Autumn colours were delightful and while the air was cool,it was a very pleasant morning. I know that the fairy story about kissing frogs to find your true love is a well known fable, so I wondered why Lyn thought that a Tuatara might be the modern way to achieve this status, but obviously it didn't work!

The King Family Grave. St Johns Cemetery

A"Bucket List" item that was a South island "must do" involved searching local graveyards for my Paternal relatives who had emigrated from Kent in the 1880s. Obed King arrived on the William Davies and there is an item about him in the book "The Furtherest Promised Land" by Rollo Arnold. He purchased 200 acres in Beach Rd Invercargill and began farming there and I have a photo taken from the 1903 NZ Omnibus with him standing next to his wife Eliza and looking very grand. I believe they had to pay to have their photo in this very large book. His wife and daughter are buried with him in the same plot in the St Johns Church cemetery and unfortunately the headstone has been badly damaged. His daughter is also buried under her Maiden name Mercy King aged 69 years, so we guess there is a story yet to be told about her life. I have more details on these Kentish Immigrants on my old 1990s genealogy website(which I am trying to update) HERE

The Fastest Indian bike

Another highlight was visiting the Invercargill Museum, which was quite small but is famous for showing the bikes of Bert Munro renowned for setting an under-1,000 cc world record, at Bonneville in the USA, 26 August 1967 . The Movie "The Worlds Fastest Indian" featuring Anthony Hopkins gave a good outline of what he achieved, but you have to see the bike to get some idea of what an amazing feat it was. We also visited Oreti beach where he used to practice and I have reminisced in the past about how cold I was on Oreti beach as a child. When we got there, it was 18c, the same as in Whangarei!

(I will post more photos of our trip later)