Invercargill and Riverton

Invercargill is New Zealand's southernmost and westernmost city and it is full of character. Its distance from other parts of the country has given the city its own distinct flavour that is hard to describe.

Finding a holiday home close to Bluff or in Invercargill is suggested for the opening of the oyster season or alternatively for the Bluff Oyster Festival each April. This annual event attracts oyster lovers from afar - here they can eat oysters to their heart's content along with indulging in great Otago wines and other tasty seafood dishes.

Just to the south of Bluff, a significant part of New Zealand is marked - the end (or beginning) of State Highway One at Stirling Point. Here a signpost shows the distance and direction to various major cities and locations around the world so it's a cool place to stop for a perspective on just where you are standing.

Riverton, a picturesque fishing village set on a small port, provides a small selection of houses ideal for a holiday by the sea.

Invercargill also has Burt Munro that well known as the fastest man from New Zealand. Herbert (Burt) James Munro (25 March 1899–6 January 1978) was a New Zealand motorcycle racer, famous for setting an under-1000cc world record, 183.586 mph (295.453 km/h), at Bonneville, 26 August 1967. This record still stands today. Burt Munro was 68 and was riding a 47-year old machine when he set his last record.

Working from his home in Invercargill, he worked for 20 years to highly modify the 1920 Indian motorcycle which he had bought in 1920. Munro set his first New Zealand speed record in 1938 and later set seven more. He travelled to compete at the Bonneville Salt Flats, attempting to set world speed records. During his ten visits to the salt flats, he set three speed records, one of which still stands today. His efforts, and success, are the basis of the motion picture The World's Fastest Indian (2005), starring Anthony Hopkins, and an earlier 1971 short documentary film Burt Munro: Offerings to the God of Speed– both directed by Roger Donaldson.

(Source: http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz)