Look what I found!

I got off of work a little early today and while there was still sunlight, I decided to explore my town a little more. Invercargill is truly at the end of the world...it is the southernmost city in New Zealand. It also boasts the southernmost Starbucks in the world (whoopie...did I mention i'm NOT a fan of Starbucks?)

This scourage must be stopped...

I decided to venture out and find out what was across the bay from my house. I drove through a beautiful suburb called Otatara which looks a lot like a suburb that I lived in when I was in Atlanta. I continued to drive because my map indicated that I would run out of land and end up on a beach...and boy, DID I!

Sign at the end of the road...next stop, Stewart Island then Antarctica!

I continued driving and the suburban landscape gave way to pasture land which gave way to coastal wetlands...then I noticed sand dunes and then the street ended...at Oreti Beach.

My little Hyundai Getz on the beach

Now, had I really done the research I would have known that this is a famous beach. Not because it is 26kilometers of beautiful empty sand but it is the spot where Invercargill great, Burt Munro  practiced and went on to set the world motorcycle land speed record back in 1967. His record still stands to this day. Some people remember him played as Anthony Hopkins in "The World's Fastest Indian". Today, locals still race cars and motorcycles on the beach.

You can go as fast as you want....No one around...

deserted beach

The beach isn't at all like the Carribbean or the Pacific Islands but what makes it amazing and beautiful is to notice how big it is and how deserted it is! It is amazing to know that in this day and age you can go somewhere and not be accosted by crowds and hoards of people and just enjoy the beauty of the day. I suspect that even if the entire town of Invercargill and its surrounds all got up and decided to go to the beach today, it would have still been plenty of room for us all...

The grass covered sand dunes at Oreti Beach...see the rainbow?

The End of the Road

Another amazing thought: This is the end...the next thing out there, past Stewart Island and a couple thousand miles of Southern Ocean is a big, giant hunk of land...the seventh continent...Antarctica!!! It boggles the mind to think that only hours to the east is the warm tropics of the South Pacific but hours to the south and west is the coldest place on earth!? You would think that we'd be freezing right now (its the dead of winter) but the weather is similar to North Carolina in the winter!... It is truly amazing how currents and wind patterns can influence the weather. (I know, I sound like a science nerd...but I AM!)

All I know is that if I can get off of work, drive 15 minutes and end up somewhere like this:

Count me IN!!!