Bluff and the southern Up

Built on a natural harbor, Bluff is Southland's seafaring town. The port is a major meat and wool exporting center. Storage tanks and coolstores rim the sheltered inlet. Ferry service links Bluff with Stewart Island.

Across the water on Tiwai Point gleam the silver, buildings of the large Comalco aluminum smelter. Oxygen is extracted from aluminum oxide shipped here from Queensland, Australia, and the molten aluminum is cast; some is alloyed with other metals before being exported. The Manapouri power project, developed in conjunction with the smelter, provides the massive amounts of electricity needed for the process. Bluff is home port of a large commercial fishing fleet, including the sturdy boats that dredge Foveaux Strait for the succulent Bluff oysters.

The country's oyster lovers anxiously await the opening of the March to August season; the shellfish are air freighted from here to all parts of New Zealand.

Houses cover the low slopes of Old Man Bluff, the hill that gave the town its name. Turn uphill by the post office and follow the toad to the summit, where a windswept panorama over Bluff Harbour and the town, sprawling Southland plains, and Foveaux: Strait islands opens before you.

Highway 1 ends at Stirling Point lookout, where a signpost gives kilometer distances to various worldwide points. A walking track begins at road's end; the 2 and 1/2 hour Foveaux: Walk follows the coast as it winds around the bush covered bluff toward the island's southern tip. It gives fine views across Foveaux: Strait to Stewart Island.