Happy campers
Trip Start
Nov 07, 2005
1
7
75
Trip End
Nov 04, 2006
Southern Scenic Route,
New Zealand
Monday, November 28, 2005
We stopped at a cheese factory which I thought was great, but it could have been better, had they supplied us with a lifetimes supply of cheese.
We'd squashed Si's friend, Liam, uncomfortably into the back seat, and dropped him off at The Asylum on the way
Baywatch, Brighton beach
. Not an actual asylum, though it did resemble a concentration camp, in a peaceful but slightly scary axe-murdering-in-the-middle-of-nowhere kinda way.Then Nay-Nay, Si and I headed towards Dunedin, home to a Cadbury factory, the steepest street in the world, and cats. There's cats everywhere in New Zealand, its great.
But not as many as there are sheep.
I figured out the age old puzzle of where little bo peeps sheep went. Here. And then they multiplied. A lot. If I don't see sheep within a mile radius I begin to worry.
Driving around has been good actually. The roads are pretty quiet and the only other thing sharing them are suicidal birds and dead possums. And people pretending to do roadworks but really just standing there topping up their tan.
So, Dunedin. Nice in a kind of very steep hill, not good for unfit people like us way. Kinda reminds me of Norway, but the food's better.
Especially at the Cadbury factory.
I probably wouldn't have done the factory tour if I hadn't been with Simon, so he's solely to blame for my impending addiction to Chocolate Fish (a fish-shaped marshmallow covered in chocolate - simple but yummy).
We climbed the steepest street in Dunedin (again something I probably wouldn't have done due to laziness) but I got scared at the top, thinking I was going to roll down and crack my head open. Not quite sure whether sky-diving is still on the agenda if I get scared by just standing at the top of a steep street
Big bunny
.We took Nay-Nay on a trip along the Southern Scenic Route, stopping at various places along the way. We were really lucky to see a lone yellow-eyed penguin at Brighton. We got pretty close to it then read later that apparently they're very shy birds and if one even sees you then you should leave. Perhaps Simon trying to hug it wasn't the best move then.
Our first night camping was set to be great except for the fact that even wearing most of my clothes I froze my ass off. Literally. My bum has never been so numb.
So after much snivelling and complaining I agreed to carry on camping as long as we could get some blankets.
Enter The Warehouse. TK-Max/Matalan/Primark-esque pikey-type store where 'Everyone gets a bargain'. I got overcharged. But then we got a bargain.
With a huge duvet/pillow set and extra clothes, I'm a much happier camper. Sometimes its too hot. But apprently I'm never happy, so I'm told. Frequently.
So Simon and I are getting on great, apart from his one major flaw
How romantic
. Cat-dislike-aphobia. But thanks to the unspoken rule of "you must own a cat to run a hostel", I'm doing my best to persuade him that the glint in their eye is not one of pure evil. I don't think feeding half our cheese to a cat at breakfast is the best way to go about it though.Milford Sounds was next on the agenda. We had to camp on gravel, which apparently, makes us hard. We're proper campers now. Campers with a duvet and pillows.
We were debating about how hot it would be on the cruise, so we slapped some suncream on, and strolled up in our shorts. Sadly we forgot to take into account the wind chill factor, and everyone else was wearing water/windproof trousers, coats and hats.
So it was a bit chilly but it was great. We saw some fur seals sunbathing on the rocks and lots of mountains and water. 2 hours was enough though. I think spending too long there might make you go mad. The skipper said he could see a lion in the rocks. A lion, oh yes of course, why didn't I see it. And this guy was driving the boat. Great.
