Over the next couple of days, our plan was to drive south from Queenstown to Bluff, a charming little town on the southern coast, though for convenience, we decided to stay in Invercargill, a small city about 30 minutes inland.

We left Queenstown late morning and headed south along the eastern bank of Lake Wakatipu, just as we’d done on June 5 on our first trip through the area. This time, we decided to stop at the southern tip of the lake for a short hike along the undeveloped western bank.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we could see patches of snow clinging to the tops of the mountains in the distance.

Through gaps in the trees we could see the turquoise, glacial lake, filled with whitecaps from the windy day.

We were excited to see wildflowers in bloom as we hiked.

The streams were swollen from snowmelt and recent rain, so much so that we eventually had to turn back when we reached a waterfall too deep to cross.

It was a short but lovely hike. Once back to the parking lot we continued on our way to our AirBNB in Invercargill. The summer days are long in New Zealand, so after unpacking we decided to zip down to Bluff for a bit.

As we drove onto Bluff’s tiny peninsula, we were stunned by hillsides of yellow flowers.

Unfortunately, these pretty lupins are considered invasive weeds in NZ. We followed the road to its end at Stirling Point, where there was a slightly-hokey-but-still-cute direction sign. Still, Julie was excited to see that the South Pole is relatively close, as she *really* wants to go to Antarctica.

We then returned to Invercargill for the night, where we picked up a couple of bottles of wine for the next couple of days. After our recent wine tour in the Central Otago, I’ve gotten particularly fond of wines from the Bannockburn region, and I was excited to find both a Pinot Noir and a Sauvignon Blanc from Bannockburn. I’m, like, super refined, now.

We started the next morning by calling the missing members of Team Hubbard to wish them Happy Thanksgiving, though the time change made the holiday a little confusing for us. Thanksgiving was on November 27, but we didn’t really talk to anyone in the US until it was November 28 for us and November 27 for them. We had decided to celebrate two days of Thanksgiving to cover all our bases.

But we weren’t going to eat turkey. Instead, after finishing up our phone calls we went back to Stirling Point in Bluff for a seafood extravaganza with a lovely view looking out over the water. We enjoyed oysters, squid, cod bites, shrimp, and green-lipped mussels (our favorite).

After our meal, we set off on a hike that started from the steps of our restaurant.

Having overeaten in typical Thanksgiving fashion, a hike was just what we needed.

We have been enjoying the ferns of New Zealand since we first arrived in June. On this walk we loved seeing all the new growth on the ferns.

We also spotted a tui, and stopped to listen to its bizarre, robotic song.

The trail wound up to a lookout before heading back down toward the coast. Along the way we reached rocky outcrop, where we could feel powerful winds.

Wind is typical in this part of NZ. Bluff sits in the midst of the “Roaring Forties,” that is, latitudes in the southern 40s. In this region of the globe there are very few land masses to interrupt the flow of wind. The result is that winds circle the bottom of the earth, blowing from west to east. Where we were in Bluff, the only other landmasses to the east or west are the very tip of South America. Sailors have long used the consistent winds of the Roaring Forties to speed long-distance navigation, though the lack of land in this part of the world also meant that if something went wrong, there were few ports or cities to turn to for help. And everything just intensifies as you head further south. There’s an old sailors saying, “Below 40 degrees south, there is no law; below 50 degrees, there is no God.”

Fortunately, on this sunny day, the winds were merely invigorating.

We next found a spur trail to get down to the water, where huge amounts of driftwood had washed up, another sign of the constant winds.

The driftwood ranged from small sticks to big logs to massive tree stumps. We suspect it’s all the same to the powerful winds and waves here.

The consistent westerly winds also whipped the water into rough waves (with Stewart Island in the distance).

Julie and I had fun scrambling down beach, feeling the wind and marveling at the powerful waves.

We then headed back towards the relative calm of trees to continue our hike.

Along the way, the trail looped slightly south. Based on some map sleuthing later in the day, I estimate we were about 46.63 degrees south, a new record for southward travel for Julie and me.

We had a wonderful pair of Thanksgiving days. As our adventure nears its end, we are keenly aware that we have much to be thankful for.

-Will