Daily Photo – Abandoned Building in Bluff

I was in Bluff, mainly because it wasn’t Invercargill. I have nothing against Invercargill per se, it’s just that Bluff had the things I wanted to see, namely a lighthouse (which is actually more of a beacon station), a sign that points in twelve different directions, and a food caravan that had been highly recommended. It also used to be the home of the famous Paua Shell House, owned by Fred and Myrtle Flutey until it was acquired by Canterbury Museum and shifted to Christchurch. Besides, it had been many years since I’d visited the town of Bluff and I fancied a poke around.

When I arrived, to say the weather was atrocious really wasn’t giving it enough credit. It was, not to make too fine a point of it, appalling. When I’d started out from home that morning it had been spritzing a little, nothing too dramatic. Now, some three hours later, having finally arrived, it was quite simply bitter.

I parked my car, fought a bracing gale to stand underneath the famous twelve-point sign, and marvelled at the fact that I knew I was 15,008 kilometres from New York City, 1,680 kilometres from Hobart, 9,567 kilometres from Tokyo and 1,401 kilometres from Cape Reinga all at the same time. I turned, gazed out to sea, adjusted my sight over the horizon, and let the wind blow through my hair for a bit before returning to my car and heading for the food truck I’d passed on the way through for a spot of lunch. There, I ordered a healthy feast of fish and chips and, while I waited, studied the old abandoned building that sat across the road.