I like being places where I can see just blue water and/or blue sky with little that is man-made or non-blue in my field of vision. For that reason, I tend to be drawn toward rocky points, lands ends, and mountain tops.

I also like being places with little or no artifice but lots of heart. For that reason, I have always been drawn to small towns and farms, as well as to the folks who populate them.

For those reasons and many others, I have been greatly looking forward to visiting Southland. I finally had the opportunity a couple weeks ago when I flew to Invercargill to give a speech at the annual conference of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand, at the invitation of my friends Don Nicholson (President of Federated Farmers) and Conor English (C.E.O.). I went directly from the airport to the conference center so that I would not be late, and I walked smack into a raucous exchange between Minister of Agriculture and Forestry David Carter and the audience. From what I could tell, in Southland the question-and-answer period actually precedes prepared remarks, so I reoriented my speech slightly while I waited my turn.

When I got to the podium I talked about issues, opportunities, and challenges facing farmers in the United States. Those issues, not coincidentally, are very similar to those facing the farmers of New Zealand. I talked about price volatility, rising input costs, the weather, water management, rural development, trade opportunities, and evolving consumer sentiments regarding organic food, locavore behavior, the environment, and animal-friendly husbandry. I spent time discussing the U.S. Farm Bill and the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. I answered a few questions about organics, ethanol, and trade policy.

That evening I sat with Don and Conor at the Federated Farmers Awards Dinner, where awards were given to New Zealand agriculture’s cream of the crop. The top honorees of the evening were Graeme Harrison (C.E.O. of ANZCO Foods) as Agri Businessperson of the year, and South Island farming and aquaculture entrepreneur Roger Beattie as Agri Personality of the Year.  Emcee Jamie Mackay of The Farming Show ensured that a good time was had by all.

The next day I had the pleasure of greeting Prime Minister John Key as he arrived and then listening to his spirited lunch speech.

Despite the busy conference agenda, I of course carved out time to see the local sights. We drove around town so that I could see the wonderfully eclectic mix of architecture, broad boulevards, churches, and velodrome. I stopped to see Mayor Tim Shadbolt, who regaled me with tales of his unruly youth. I teased him (diplomatically of course) about his trajectory from radical-in-chief to respectable pillar of society, and he presented me with a copy of his autobiography (which I forgot to ask him to sign). We also talked at length about Invercargill’s Americarna festival, which celebrates classic American car culture, and about local hero Burt Munro and his world’s fastest Indian Scout racer.

As usual, though, the highlight of my trip was time spent in schools. One morning I dropped by the Ruru School, established to serve special needs students up to age 21. My visit started with the most impassioned and impressive haka that I have yet experienced in New Zealand, plus a couple of wonderful songs. Devoted principal Erin Cairns then took me on a tour of the facilities to meet the rest of the hard-working students and dedicated teachers.

I met students exercising in the heated indoor swimming pool, persuaded students to let me play with the various lights in the ’sensory room,’ and enjoyed a performance by the school’s rock band. At the end of the visit I had morning tea with the seniors. I answered a variety of enthusiastic questions and listened to explanations of how the students are preparing themselves for independent living. The school is an absolute jewel, and I found it difficult to say goodbye. I very much encourage you to take a look at Ruru and consider ways to support its program.

After Ruru, I visited Southland Girl’s High School. I was welcomed by enthusiastic principal Yvonne Browning and an army of students, spoke with teachers and staff in the lounge, made the librarian blush by vigorously arguing the case for physical books (versus the internet), and followed head girl Taylor Hunter and deputy head girl Shivana Pemberton on a tour of the campus. The tour included a stop at a compost unit of some sort that was filled with worms.

The visit culminated in a lively question-and-answer forum with senior students. No teachers were present, but I know that the teachers would have been proud of the spirited, thoughtful, smart, and confident way the girls interacted with me. Very impressive. And unimpeachable evidence of a superb professional staff.

Later that day my Federated Farmers tour guide Russell Falconer took me on a fast-paced romp through Southland farmlands on a brilliantly sunny and pleasant afternoon. (People up North kept warning me about the Invercargill winter, but all three days that I spent in Southland were bright and sunny.) We stopped first at Alfonse Zeestraten’s state-of-the-art wintering shed, which keeps his 800 dairy cows out of the weather and off wet pasture during the winter months. Alfonse explained the environmental, cost, and animal welfare benefits of his approach. I enjoyed watching certain of the herd utilize the rotating back scratchers installed in the shed.

We then drove here and there along rural lanes looking at sheep, cow, and deer farms. I thought I saw an elk farm go by at one point, but I forgot to ask Russell about it. I did ask a lot of other questions. Russell provided a lot of answers. We ended up at Fonterra’s Edendale milk processing plant, which I am told is capable of handling a staggering 15 million liters of milk a day. Fonterra’s Site Manager Keith Mason assured me that Edendale is the world’s largest dairy processing facility, and from what I saw I don’t doubt the claim.

Although the winter chill set in as the sun began to sink, I wanted to be sure to make one final stop before dinner – at New Zealand’s first earthworm-based sewage treatment facility. A fascinating environmental engineering project, this low-tech sewage filtration operation uses bacterial degradation and an army of worms to “process” (which I think actually means “eat”) effluent from humans and farm animals. What comes out the other end of the process is clear water that can be safely discharged into the local stream.

First developed in Chile in the 1980’s, the process is patented in the U.S. and was brought to New Zealand by the smart people at Bio Filtro Limited and Southland District Council. This innovative system currently serves the towns of Edendale and Wyndam. Bio Filtro is delighted with the results there and is looking for opportunities to expand to new markets.

Of course, I couldn’t visit Southland without going to Bluff. So the next morning I drove down to the Mainland’s southernmost town, past low scrub and fields blanketed in frost so thick that it looked like snow. Bluff itself reminded me of the town I grew up in, only next to the sea rather than in the middle of coalfields. I immediately felt at home, and not only because one of the guys in the guard booth at the entrance to the port gave me a spontaneous, boisterous, supportive earful about U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.

Bluff’s biggest claim to fame is its large, fat, tasty oysters. Bluff oysters are harvested per a sustainable management quota system by a local fishing fleet of family businesses passed down through generations. My charming hosts were oyster family stalwarts Willy and Karen Caulder. Along with Graeme Wright from Barnes Oysters, Willy and Karen took me through their dockside oyster processing facility and then onto The Argosy, their flagship. Along the way I heard marvelous stories about bad years and good years, and I ate more than my fair share of Bluff oysters … some shucked fresh out of the sea by Willy, and some baked by Karen on the half shell with herbs and cheese.

We ended the morning with coffee and beer at the Anchorage bar and café in town. Many thanks to Karen and Willy for their great hospitality. I very much look forward to a return visit … and to more of Karen’s baked oysters.

On my way out of town I made one last stop, up on Stirling Point. As I said earlier, I always like heading for high ground.

My trip was far too short. I didn’t get to taste mutton bird. I didn’t have time to get over to Stewart Island. I was too late for this year’s Invercargill Americarna festival. I was not able to tour Fiordland. What I did experience in Invercargill, Bluff, and points in between and thereabouts, though, made me feel very much at home. And of course I am hungry for more Bluff oysters. So, I am already plotting my next visit …