Omakau Commercial Hotel Dunedin

... we could have stayed for a lot longer, did I mention it’s only £13 a night!! Next time we go there I’m sure we’ll get the dolphins too who are quite happy to have people swim with them in the bay, but I think it needs to be a bit further into summer before I brave the waves myself. We started with one of the longer legs of driving we had to do which got us in and out of Invercargill without stopping as we haven’t heard a nice word about it since we ...

... was still mercilessly moistening us at our first stop-off as our eyes scanned the skies for one of the 38-strong albatross colony. Only 15 minutes later we caught a glimpse of one, soaring above us before heading in to feed his chicks. The guide had told us that there was no chance of mistaking it for a seagull and of course he was right - a fully-grown adult is 1m in length and has an enormous 3m wingspan. Despite their size they are an endangered species and need ...

... I am good at' and set off at 1.30pm to make 60km to Ranfurlly preferably before it go dark at about 6o'clock. I did or more correctly I should say we did because I caught up with 3 girls from wellington I'd been chatting to on the train and we rode together and shared a cabin at the ranfurlly camp ground that we reached just as it was getting dark. They were really friendly and we agreed to cycle together tomorrow there general philosophy seem to be 'the more the merrier'.

... who pointed them out to us said they'd had one run after them on a beach yesterday when they got too close and I didn't fancy having to run through the grass in flip-flops to get away (our shoes are still wet from yesterday). Anyway Stan will be back with lots of photos I'm sure. It's a pity it's not sunny as the coastline is spectacular all along the south end of the island, but it will be good to get to a town where we can get some extra bits we need for our ...

... to finish our third and final day of riding at Middlemarch and find Gazer, equipped with a bike rack, waiting for us, red and happy and cute, next to the train station. In the station we found the last box containing the last stamp to collect in a special OCRT passport. Overwhelmed by the amount of paper we already accumulated, we decided to stamp our journal instead... The presence of Gazer allowed us to experience some ...

... on the screen. Jerry makes up for it by spending lots of time with us, suggesting wines we might like, and offering tastes of some. We learn why we've seen so many rose bushes planted at the end of rows of grapes in this area. If the roses start to droop, they know to check the vines for trouble. I thought the rose color might indicate what sort of grape was planted there, but that is not the case. We have duxelle for ...

... sloped off to the pub with my uncle. That sounds worse than it is. The pubs are hotels too so they do breakfast and that is what we were going for (everyone else was still in bed so we didn't feel too guilty!). I couldn't believe that at 9am in the morning there was someone sat outside the pub having a beer! We had a lovely afternoon walking off the calories around Coalpit Dam and all too soon it was time to say our goodbyes and drive to Wanaka!

... town with a big identity now thanks to the earlier initiative. I understand this year was the last for Edna as her and her husband plan to step down from the hard work of running a winning festival. Thank you Edna for all those energetic years. I find it wonderful when a town closes down it's entire Main Street and turns it into a giant party. There was also a very ...

... heb ik vanuit mijn ooghoek eens even flink bekeken, dapper he? ;-)<br><br>En toen was het tijd om uit te rijden naar de Dunedin Peninsula, oftewel het schiereiland van Dunedin. De Peninsula stond (en wat doet dat niet hier) bekend om zijn natuur en de dieren die er leefden. Dit maal ging het met name om de albatrossen en de pinguins.<br>De albatroscolonie lag helemaal aan het uiteinde van het schiereiland en ik heb ze bekeken vanaf de klif. <br>Voor de avond had ik een ...