Invercargill: Day -2

Four of us drove South at mid-day today: Benjamin Brock Smith, John Franklin, Phil Clark of the Church Army and myself. We had our gear for a month loaded into my not large car and a whole lot of stuff besides: magnetic signs for the side of the support van and a flashing light for its roof; a first aid kit and 2 way radios and various cameras; booklets and maps; a timetable. I had talked with Clemency and Debbie about the best ways to connect with me. I had procured an exceptionally cheap bike and prepared it for Phil to ride. All was ready, after this long time of thinking and preparation and we were finally on our way.

We had a quick lunch at Waihola and I tried hard, honestly I did, not to covet the Ducati Multistrada parked outside the restaurant window. We stopped in Balclutha on a baking hot afternoon and met the people from Anglican Family Care.

AFC has a small office in Balclutha which accomplishes an astonishing amount of good. Like it's parent office in Dunedin it punches far above its weight and is highly regarded by all in the social services field. We looked through the office, had a chat with the Deputy mayor, Stewart Cowie and then in company with some members of the local parish and the folk from AFC walked perhaps 1km to St. Marks Church. The Hikoi doesn't begin until Friday, but we got a few steps in anyway.

We arrived in Invercargill late in the day, found some dinner, bought a few provisions and sorted out a light pack to take to Stewart Island. Benjamin drove back to Dunedin and the three of us will fly to the Island on the first flight out in the morning.

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Ko Tangata Tiriti Ahau

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Kindle

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