Understand
Invercargill is named after William Cargill, a prominent pioneer Otago settler.
Invercargill's wide streets bear the names of the rivers of Scotland and Northern England.
The city is the service town for the farmers of Southland's fertile plains.
Get in
By bus
There are bus services from Dunedin to Invercargill as well as to Queenstown and other places in the southern lakes district.
By car
Invercargill is about 2.5 hours by road from Dunedin, along State Highway 1.
By plane
Invercargill Airport is just to the west of town. A flight from Christchurch to Invercargill takes about an hour in a turboprop aircraft. On a clear day the flight is spectacular, with the Southern Alps to the west of the flight path. If flying south to Invercargill be sure to request a window seat on the right or starboard side of the aircraft (request port or left if flying out to Christchurch.) Mount Cook, which is visible about half way through the flight, is merely the biggest of the many massive peaks of the Southern Alps.
Talk
The inhabitants of Southland, with their Scots ancestry; the nearest New Zealand gets to having different dialects. Many talk with a Southland burr. The rs are rolled in a distinctive manner.
See
Get out
Invercargill can be a base to explore southern New Zealand. Visit Stewart Island, Fiordland, Milford Sound, Queenstown as well as the Catlins.
Sleep
10 minutes from Invercargill on a private forest reserve is Bushy Point Homestay.This is an ideal stay for birders before or following a trip to Stewart Island. This is also the easiest site in New Zealand to see the endangered South Island Fernbird.
Invercargill (Waihōpai in Māori) is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost settlements in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island.
Invercargill is home to the Southern Institute of Technology, which has introduced a free-fees scheme. The scheme was partly responsible for rejuvenating the city when it was in a steady state of population decline.
Invercargill is also the home to New Zealand's only indoor cycling velodrome. The indoor 250m wooden velodrome is home to Track Cycling in Southland and is currently the fastest track in the country. The Invercargill Licensing Trust supports the Velodrome which is situated at Stadium Southland. Another facility is Queen's Park, which is just north of the city centre, with botanical gardens, an aviary, sports grounds, and the Southland Museum and Art Gallery. Anderson Park, on the northern boundary of Invercargill, is a large Georgian-style residence set in 24 hectares of landscaped gardens. The house displays Invercargill's extensive collection of New Zealand art.
Many streets in the city, especially in the centre and main shopping district, are named after rivers in the United Kingdom, mainly Scotland. These include Dee, Tyne, Esk, Don, Thames, Mersey, Ness, Yarrow, Spey, Tay, and Eye rivers.
Recently Invercargill has become the home of New Zealand's only indoor Velodrome. Due largely to the assistance of the Invercargill Licencing Trust this facility promises to become the focal point of track cycling in New Zealand. It is also home of the SBS Invitational Amateur golf tournament which is held every year at the beginning of March.
Transport
Road
Invercargill is the southernmost city on New Zealand's state highway network and is linked to Fiordland and the Catlins by the Southern Scenic Route.
Rail links
Invercargill is at the southern end of the Main South Line railway, which extends up the east coast to Christchurch and Lyttelton via Dunedin. Until the cancellation of the Southerner in 2002, Invercargill had the southernmost passenger railway station in the world. Passenger trains no longer call at Invercargill, except for occasional excursions. The Bluff Branch extends south from Invercargill and has been freight-only since 1967. The Wairio Branch extends northwest from Invercargill to the Solid Energy coalfields and continues to carry freight.
Invercargill Airport
During the mid 1950s, Invercargill Airport was used for fuel top-up and final take off by Operation Deep Freeze. Twin-engine propeller-driven planes destined for McMurdo Sound in the Antarctic used the airport, assisted in takeoff by JATO rockets under their wings. Bigger aircraft flew from Christchurch where Deep Freeze had a base.
Invercargill Airport's primary traffic currently comprises Air New Zealand ATR 72 aircraft flying to and from Christchurch, and regular flights to and from Stewart Island.
History
Southland was a scene of early extended contact between Europeans and Maori, in this case sealers and whalers and missionaries - Wohlers at Ruapuke. From 1848, Otago, of which Southland was itself part, was the subject of planned settlement by the Free Church, a fundamentalist offshoot of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Settlement broadened with the discovery of gold in Central Otago in the 1860s.
In 1856 a petition was put forward to Thomas Gore Browne, the Governor of New Zealand, for a port at Bluff. Browne agreed to the petition and gave the name Invercargill to the settlement north of the port. Inver comes from the Scots Gaelic word inbhir meaning a river's mouth and Cargill is in honour of Captain William Cargill, who was at the time the Superintendent of Otago, of which Southland was then a part.
Even today, traces of Scottish speech persist in Southland voices, with R often pronounced with a rolling burr. This is more noticeable in country people.
In December 1905, Invercargill voted in local prohibition of alcohol sales. this lasted for 40 years until voted out by returning servicemen in World War 2. Drinking continued meanwhile, thanks to huge volumes of beer, often in kegs, brought to private homes, or sold by the glass by keggers at hiding spots round the City. When prohibition ended, a committee of citizens persuaded the Government to give the monopoly on liquor sales in Invercargill to the specially formed Invercargill Licensing Trust. Based on a scheme in Carlisle, England, it returns profits to city amenities. Even today, alcohol is not sold in supermarkets.
In recent years, publicity has been brought to the southern city by the election of Tim Shadbolt, a colourful and outspoken former student activist, as mayor. He once appeared on a cheese ad stating "I don't mind where, as long as I'm Mayor". His supporters like the colour he brings to the city. His opponents refer to his controversial mayoral career in Auckland suburbs and to his attitude to veterans during his opposition to the Vietnam War.
Climate
A temperate oceanic climate similar to that of the British Isles (the rain is warmer in summer) prevails in Invercargill, where the mean daily temperature ranges from 5.2°C in July to 13.8°C in January. The yearly mean temperature is 9.9°C. Precipitation averages 1064 mm annually, and measurable snowfall is occasionally seen during the winter months of June to September. It has an average of 1580 hours of sunshine per annum.
The average temperature high ranges from 18.4°C in January to 11.1°C in August. Due to the relatively high latitude (46° 42'), the city enjoys nearly 16 hours of daylight at the summer solstice in late December.
Invercargill is "The city of Water and Light". This refers to the long summer twilights and the aurora australis (southern lights). The water reference, humorists suggest, comes from notorious horizontal, driving rain in high wind at the corner of the two main streets, Dee and Tay. A recent sign also states "Invercargill, where dreams can come true" with an image from the 2005 film The World's Fastest Indian.
The Invercargill March
Invercargill provided the inspiration for the Invercargill March, a stirring piece of military music written in 1900 by the composer Alex F. Lithgow, who lived in Invercargill from the age of six, although born in Scotland. The march was written for the City of Invercargill, which Alex Lithgow dearly missed while he was away.
"Invercargill" rates alongside old favourites such as the Gladiator March, Liberty Bell, the Radetsky March, and other stirring Sousa marches. The Invercargill March is especially popular in the United States of America. It is a favorite of the US Marines, and was the Regimental March of the 56th Infantry Regiment of the New York Guard during World War 2. The Invercargill Caledonian Pipe Band continues the Scottish tradition today.
Education
High schools
All High Schools in Invercargill are Year 7-13, following a Ministry of Education review in 2004 that made most of Invercargill's primary schools Year 1-6 and closed the Year 7-8 schools Rosedale Intermediate and Collingwood Intermediate.
Primary Schools
Most primary schools are Year 1-6.
Famous Invercargillites
Sister Cities
External links
