Okay, okay, it's 'one' of the southernmost cities in the World, but still! 

Invercargill is hard for me to describe. I grew up here, it's my home. Some people hate it, others love it. 

It's definitely not the most exciting place in the world, but there are still some cool things to do, if you know where to look.

My favourite thing to do in Invercargill (other than see my friends!) is the Invercargill Estuary Walk.

If you feel the need to get out and explore a quiet spot just out of the city, this is a great place to start. It begins on the Stead Street Reserve, by the Jellicoe Scout Building, over near the airport.

It's quite a relaxing walk, with a few different entrances and exits. I like to exit the walk on William Street, and then walk back through the Invercargill neighbourhoods. But the walk is a loop if you continue on, I think it's about 4km in total.

You won't see too many people around, just make sure you give a friendly Southern 'hello' when you do pass the odd someone. 

There is usually a boardwalk which goes right across the lagoon but this was recently damaged by a storm and is still being fixed. Hopefully they fix it soon, because it's quite impressive, and is pretty cool to photograph.

You can still walk around the outside of the estuary though, and watch the bird life on the water. There are also a few toilets around and picnic places. 

Not a bad way to spend an early morning! Just make sure you rug up warm. Invercargill can have quite the chill!

Wellington has some great walks. Here are some of the best ones.

One of my  all-time favourite walks in Wellington is up Mt Albert in Newtown. This walk is part of the Southern walkway and, in my opinion, the best part. It is not that well-known so there are now crowds, à la Mt Vic, and the view is just as good.

Also, cheetahs! I mean, not free roaming or anything, Zoo cheetahs. 

To begin the walk I like to start from Russell Terrace. Its about half way up the road, opposite the northern exit of Edinburgh Terrace. There is a road that turns left down to Newtown Park. Walk up that road until you see some stairs on the right. Take those, and you'll see a track up into the trees behind the basketball court. This is the start of the walk.

There are a few different tracks you can take, but most will lead to the top. I like to keep turning right, past the hockey stadium, until I get to the top, and then go back down past the zoo. The walk goes through forest and a bit of grass, and in summer there are loads of blackberries to eat. It's a bit of a climb to get to the top, but only for ten minutes or so. If you take the right turns it's more of a gradual climb, whereas left is steeper but shorter. 

There are two look-out points you can go to.  

On the southern side is Mt Albert itself...there is a marker up there so you know you are at the top. From there you can walk down to the road for the rest of the Southern walkway.

The second look-out north. Continue on the gorse-lined loop track until you get to a wooden seat. The view at the top is spectacular. And there are hardly any people up there. You can see all the way out to the lighthouse of the far side of the harbour, and even the South Island on a good day. It's my favourite place to sit and relax, while keeping an eye on my city.

On the way back, you can take a detour down to Melrose Park. This is where the back of the Wellington Zoo is. You can check out the baboon enclosure, if you're into baboons, but I don't like their attitudes. I ignore them, and walk around the fence-line until I get to a big grass enclosure that looks deserted. That's the cheetah enclosure. If you look hard enough you'll see Charlie strutting around somewhere. He likes to sleep right up against the back fence so you can often get pretty close to him. 

The walk takes about half an hour if you don't muck around, or 45 mins if you're taking it slow. 
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