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As you can see Safari News has been dorment over the winter months as we have been preparing for our next season. The biggest news at this stage is Ray’s debut as an actor in a film about the introduction of trout into Australia and New Zealand. Even the Lodge plays a part in the movie here is a link to UTUBE with Ray’s and Safari Lodge’s part in the movie 

Here we are at the end of March already our season has gone very fast indeed. Perhaps this is a good sign that we have been busy with guests or maybe we are just growing older and time flashes by with age. The garden at the Lodge is showing signs of Autumn creeping in with plenty of leaves falling in our parking area. Rusty our ( security officer ) has a new blankie in her kennel to keep her warm with the temperatures dropping slightly. Ray is starting to get excited about duck shooting and is preparing his hunting equipment. Never a dull moment at the Lodge !!

As you have probably noticed it has been 2 weeks since I last updated the Safari News my apologies! We have enjoyed a busy couple of  weeks with guests and  family birthdays included. Ray is getting excited about the Duck shooting season opening at the beginning of  May and has been taking our security guard (rusty the Labrador ) out for walks and swimming practise for the opening.  Duck shooting has been a tradition in my family for the last three generations as have owning a Labrador for retrieving. We probably inherited the sport from our colonial background except here the sport is available to everyone not just the land owners.

Hi everyone, news for this week is naturally everyone at the lodge enjoying fresh, fat and juicy Bluff Oysters. We often think as locals that we take for granted the bounty of local seafood delicacies such as  salmon, green lipped mussels, paua (abalone ), white bait, blue cod, crayfish and of course world famous bluff oysters. All of these are here on our door step and certainly when we lived in Africa we often longed for the day when we could taste some of our local sea foods again. But one of the nice things about living off the coast of East Africa was the fresh prawns available and certainly we had our fair share of them. In fact since we moved home I have persevered cooking prawns  to gain the same taste we achieved in Mozambique and finally I have mastered the garlic prawn flavor we have been looking for.  Secret recipe now On the Menu at Safari Lodge !

Hi everyone thousand apologies for no news last week ! We have been very busy with guest arrivals and so far the recession has not affected us. Lets hope that the world economy sorts its self out over the next year. Big news for this week is our oldest sons birthday on the 27th February he will be 32 we hardly believe were the years have gone. Our guests continue to take advantage of our new Spa room facility. Rusty head of security (our chocolate Labrador) has enjoyed a large amount of attention from the guests this season. She is particularly good at looking cute when wanting attention and has been known to pose for photo opportunities. The only problem we have with her is that she insists on sleeping in the garden and flattening our flowers. Rusty’s mission is to patrol the car park area.

Hi everyone our big news for this week is the opening of the Oyster Season in Bluff on the 1 st March. Some say that Bluff oysters are the finest in the world. They are grown slowly in the cold clean waters of the Foveaux Strait. In season, they are dredged by Bluffs oyster fleet.

Oystering first began commercially at Stewart Island in the 1860s. Coastal cutters were simply beached on the beds at high tide and the oysters shovelled aboard as the tide dropped. The catch was transported in the shell to the mainland and right from the outset demand was so high that within a few years the beds were exhausted. Depleting beds caused the closure of the harvesting in 1877. In 1879 new larger beds were discovered in deeper water and the centre of activity gradually shifted from Stewart Island to Bluff.    Although commonly known as the Bluff oyster, it is known by others names, including mud oyster, flat oyster, dredge oyster, Foveaux Strait oyster and deep water oyster.The species is actually found throughout New Zealand, but is most common in the south.

A quota system was introduced in 1963, the twelve oyster boats then engaged in the industry being set a limit of 170,000 sacks per season (each sack containing, on average, 800 oysters). The quota was progressively reduced until in 1970 with 23 boats operating, it was 115,000 or 5000 per boat (in eating terms that equates to two dozen oysters for every man, woman and child in the country). Seasons were relatively good until the 1986/87 season when the beds were struck by the parasitic protozoan Bonamia. This caused the oysters to become watery and black. Because of the Bonamia the season was ceased in 1991 and did not reopen until 1994 with a limited quota and fewer boats.

When oystering first began it was a race to get the first oysters back to the wharf. Today some boats are met by helicopters who whisk the oysters away to be distributed throughout the country.

Hi everyone we are looking forward to Waitangi Day tomorrow and will be celebrating with our guests, it looks like it will be lovely sunny weather  here in the deep south of New Zealand.                                                                                                                                                                                       Waitangi Day is a day for all New Zealanders. It is a time for commemoration and reflection. It is also a time for encouragement, participation, and celebration of our nationhood. It is a moment to look at our country’s history with an eye to what the future may hold. It is a space to contemplate the full meaning of the concept of partnership within one nation, two partners, and many cultures.

One of of local evens to look forward to is the  community trust of Southland’s SURF TO CITY    11.5 kilometre fun run, cycle or walk. The Surf to city will be held on the 15 February 2009 all welcome !!

We have great excitement here at Safari Lodge as our Indoor BBQ facility has just been connected to the gas ! Although we will continue to cook for our guests in our original kitchen for this season we will be doing some trials in our new BBQ kitchen. It is our plan to offer a ‘Game Menu’ at the Lodge next season in keeping with our Safari Theme. At this stage we are looking at venison, rabbit and hare caught by local hunters and processed by a specialized butchery here in town. Naturally we will also be offering  local sea food delicacies.  We will keep you updated on our developing   ‘Game Menu’ here at Safari Lodge luxury accommodation in Invercargill.

Hello everyone we are almost through the first month of the year already! We have just experienced one of our busiest week since opening Safari Lodge in November 2007. The storm we experienced last Saturday gave our guests a bit of a surprise considering that this is supposed to be our summer. We assured everyone that hail at this time of year is totally out of character for Southland it must be all part of the global warming thing. Don’t worry our summer weather has returnred  Comming up next month is the ‘2009 Hokonui Moonshinner’s Festival’ be sure to check our availablity for this date for your Luxury Heritage Accommodation in Invercargill