ontinuing along the south coast brings you to the beautiful Tautuku Bay. The golden crescent of sand is separated from dense forest by a narrow strip of scrub and the contrast between sand and forest, all framed by a blue sky on a fine day, is glorious.

Opposite the beach, about halfway along, is a track that leads to a beautiful pool in a splendid sylvan setting, rather grandly known as Lake Wilkie. Just across from the Lake Wilkie signpost can be found the Taurekei Forest Reserve. This is 550 hectares of choice bush which has been preserved by the Forest and Bird Society.

Continuing along State Highway 92 through Quarry Hills, Tokanui and Fortrose brings you at last out onto the extensive plains surrounding Invercargill, and only a short distance from the Waituna wetlands, regarded as among the most important in the country. Here, just a few metres from the southern ocean, grows one of the finest assemblages of alpine plants to be found, including cushion bog, creeping lily, comb-sedge, purple orchids and bladderworts. These are all plants you would normally expect to see high in the mountains, but it does not take long to find out why they are growing here. Stand still for a few minutes and you will catch a full blast of wind which feels as though it is straight off the polar cap. - Waituna is probably best known for its birdlife. In summer as many as 17 migratory wader species come here from the Northern Hemisphere and together with these are numerous residents. Considering that Waituna is about as far south as a migratory wader can get, the number of rarities which show up here is extraordinary. Local ornithologists have seen in recent years Mongolian dotterels, grey plovers, sanderlings and Asiatic whimbrels - all rare visitors to New Zealand and seldom recorded elsewhere.

Nearby Invercargill is more interesting than beautiful. It is known for its invigorating climate and the wide streets have been cunningly designed so that less robust northerners can enjoy the wind to the full. There are numerous parks and gardens and in less bracing weather wandering among them is pleasant. The Southland Museum has an interesting collection of fossilised logs and in the museum itself is something called a Tuatarium which is self-explanatory.

Invercargill is the centre of an extensive mixed-farming area. In spring there are lambs in their thousands but these are subject to the vagaries of the Southland weather. The last time I travelled through Southland was by train during a particularly long spell of wet and cold weather and dozens of lambs were dead in the paddocks.