When I arrived in Invercargill I discovered yet another system of colds fronts was forecast expected to arrive over the next few days. Sure enough, yesterday morning I awoke to wet and soggy conditions, and decided to delay my departure by a day.  But really, I was just delaying the inevitable, as the fronts were almost certain to arrive sometime whilst I was on the road.

So I set out this morning in calm and overcast conditions, with a slight breeze assisting and the road gently rolling, and I was able to make good time.

As the morning progressed the clouds became darker and darker. The first shower arrived just as I encountered a pair of German cycle tourists I’d first met approaching Queenstown. They had taken the Otago Rail Trail across to the east coast and were approaching Invercargill from the opposite direction.

Soon after I reached the Titiroa River, near Fortrose.  It’s the whitebait season, and there were many whitebaiters with stands and nets along the river. I should have stopped for a photo, but the cold front arrived about the same time, with driving rain and howling cold winds.

Pushing the last few kms through the wind, I arrived at the hamlet of Fortrose just after midday, and stopped at the one and only café.  It was just after midday so I decided to stop for lunch and wait to see if the front would pass quickly.

The café was offering whitebait on the menu. It’s undoubtedly a delicacy to many Kiwis’, and some go to great lengths and endure much to catch them, so I decided it was time I tried them for myself to find out what all the fuss is about. I ordered a whitebait omelette, which tasted – like an omelette. I expected whitebait to have a fishy taste but couldn’t detect any fish flavour at all.

After a languid lunch break conditions had not improved, but I continued anyway to see how far I would get. It soon became obvious that in the battle against the wind I would be the loser. So at Tokanui  around mid-afternoon I decided to call it a day. Tomorrow, if the conditions improve, I will have easy and fairly short ride down to Curio Bay, which give me a little more time to have a look around.