Invercargill

The World’s Fastest Indian

In the centre of Invercargill is a large hardware store, E Hayes & Sons. Inside that store, among all the tools, parts and accessories to support a thriving agricultural community, is the Indian Scout motorcycle ridden by Burt Munro.

Burt Munro’s modified 1920 Indian Scout  – the World’s Fastest Indian – had an out-of-the-box speed of 55 mph. After Burt finished tinkering with it in his workshop, he rode it up to 206 miles per hour. His official record, set in 1967, is just a smidge over 184 miles per hour and hasn’t been beaten since.

There’s an eponymous film about it starring Anthony Hopkins.

Bill Richardson Transport World

What a find. I had heard of it but had no idea how good it was.

After a quick lunch stop at Fat Bastard Pies (unfortunately, they had run out of T-shirts), we headed over to Bill Richardson Transport World.

Maria decided she didn’t want to come inside with me, so I left her with the van, paid the entrance fee, and walked into the largest collection of vehicles I have ever seen.

It makes The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu look tiny.

In the hall housing all the agricultural equipment, I struck up a conversation with a retired farmer who was looking, clearly with fond memories, at an old tractor. “I used to ride on one of those as a child,” he said. He also persuaded me to force Maria out of the van and into the building because they have a wearable art exhibition on the top floor, and she might like it.

I’m not sure the allure of the wearable art did the trick, but she came anyway – and enjoyed it, too.

And there we are – the surprise that is Invercargill. Next, we are off to the most southern point of the mainland, Bluff.