Shearers in the City!

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• Entry from Dunedin, Timaru and then Christchurch, our final stop!

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  Dunedin, Timaru and then Christchurch, our final stop!, New Zealand
Sunday, November 13, 2005

Monday 7th November 2005
Dunedin, East Coast

Had an okay nights sleep last night apart from Dan waking me up every 10 minutes, he has a small cold and has decided to stick toilet paper up his nose! I woke about 7.45 am this morning and made Dan get up early too for keeping me awake! The ranger called round at the camper to collect our $5 fees for camping so after breakfast we continued our drive East to Dunedin. I was driving for the 2 hour long trip. It was certainly a change from Milford Sound and much flatter and greener compared to the snow capped mountains and waterfalls....it was nice all the same! As we approached the City of Dunedin, it was a nice day and we saw the sea again which was lovely! We parked up in the City itself and had a walk into town first to check it out and get our bearings

Baldwin Street, the steepest in the world?

. We have realised that all towns in New Zealand are pretty similar but this had a lovely feel to it and on a hot sunny day with the Cathedral bells ringing was just nice. We caught up on a few emails and as it was lunchtime decided to park up the camper van at the holiday park a few km's away and had a spot of lunch on the bench outside in the sunshine. As it was such a nice day we took advantage of the weather and walked back into town about 2km. The Center of the town is shaped like a Hexagon and is lined with nice bars and restaurants, we sat with a cold beverage taking it all in and people watching! We checked out the shops and treated ourselves to a $6 tripod stand for our cameras, bargain or what! After checking out the shops we just strolled back to the campsite, passing suitcases of 'free clothes' in the streets that looked like students were selling! We approached some loud music where about 10 or so students had carried the settee and chairs into the garden and were sat chilling out! Also today, just to add it in, a Sandfly has bitten me right on the end of my nose, it's big and sore!

Tuesday 8th November 2005
Dunedin, Moeraki, Oamaru and Timaru
Very tired again...but we won't go into the snoring as it will upset Dan too much! Anyway we got up and had shower and around 10 am we decided to drive 50 minutes or so to The Albatross Centre on the Peninsula to see if we could see the 3 metre wingspan birds

Dan on one of the Moeraki Boulders!

. Dan was driving (too close to the edge may I add!) and we drove all the way along the coast to the tip where the Visitor Centre was. We put in a donation but had to pay for the tour and were not guaranteed to see the birds as it's mating season so we just nipped out after looking in the museum but didn't see any. We did however, see the stuffed one so kind of got an idea of just how big they actually are! The weather over here is just so unpredictable (like England) and was absolutely freezing and blowing a gale so fleeced up we continued our drive North to Christchurch. On the way we were told of the 'steepest street in the world' Baldwin's Street just in Dunedin so nipped to have a look as after visiting San Fran couldn't think of any steeper streets. Well it was marked up 'steepest street' and okay it was steep but we didn't really think any competition to San Fran!
We continued the drive and stopped off in Moeraki to see the Moeraki boulders, just HUGE big round boulders on the beach! We parked up and walked a few 100 metres down the beach and had some fun taking some pictures (soon to be posted!). We stopped on the carpark for some lunch and drove through Oamaru to see if we could spot any Yellow Eyed Penguins. They are only supposed to come out at dusk around 8.15 pm but we did manage to see their little heads popping out of the holes they live in! We also saw a Sea Lion just chilling out on the beach too! As we had drove so far, we decided tonight we would park up in Timaru, there wasn't a lot there and only a small town so after a wander around we went to the campsite and sat watching some TV, something we haven't done for a while

Dan on the Christchurch Tram!

! We watched the episode of Corrie where Tracey tries killing Karen for pinching her car and Ashley gets married, they were all into it here but SOOO behind! We caught the first half of wife swap with a Liverpool family which Dan found quite amusing then went to bed for 10pm!

Wednesday 9th November 2005
Christchurch, LAST STOP New Zealand!

We were on our way to Christchurch today and what a lovely day to drive! We got up quite early and took the drive North. As we approached the town, I pulled over in the supermarket carpark as I was driving to swap with Dan, I just had visions of a hefty insurance job with us having no luck with Errol really so decided Dan should drive into the town! We pulled up and found a busy street with a space that someone had just pulled out of, the parking machine was out of order so that was cool!..(or so we thought before heading back to a $15 fine for time out on the machine...WHATEVER!)
We just decided to have a walk in the City and look round the square, it was bustling with people sitting round having coffee and there were market stalls and entertainers in the street, a very nice atmosphere. Dan saw the Westpac bank so decided whilst he was here to pay the speeding fine he needed to pay before leaving the country. As Dan went into the bank, I decided to call Wayne's mobile (Gaz's brother for those of you who don't know who Wayne is!)as we were hoping to meet up today or tomorrow for my birthday but it was answerphone so I left a message. Just as I stood in the bank itself waiting for Dan...WAYNE WALKS THROUGH THE DOOR! How many chances would that happen!!! It was ACE to see him and he was really pleased too

Fun at the Moeraki Boulders!

. We hung around and waited for him to finish up in the bank. He had only just arrived at the backpackers so as we were hungry we met up with Claire and Dave, Wayne's working friends and went to KFC for some popcorn chicken! We sat round chatting and laughing and mainly catching up with Wayne. After lunch we sat outside a 'Wetherspoons' kind of bar and had a few beverages! Wayne had a leaflet for the hostel he was staying at, a walk into town so we called them up and they could accommodate Errol so we drove it over and decided to spend the next 3 nights there which was great. We met up in the Hostel Bar for a catch up again and headed off to bed about 11 pm. Wayne and his friends were trying to stay awake as long as possible as they had flown for 24 hours or so from the U.K.

Thursday 10th November 2005
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

What a lovely sunny day for my birthday! The sky was blue and after waking at 6.50 am, Wayne had given me my birthday cards so I sat and opened them. I opened a few last night and was in buckets of tears, thanks Gaz for the lovely picture and necklace it really made my day! and thanks everyone else for the lovely cards, money and thoughts.I made a few phone calls home and we headed into town to Starbucks for a coffee and croissant

Last night in Christchurch

. I checked up on my emails for birthday messages (thanks to everyone that sent me one!)
Dan, Wayne and I went for birthday lunch at the Irish pub and had some lovely birthday chocolate cake. We walked around the souvenier shops, and Wayne had us in stitches, honestly. He picked up a pair of sheep ear muffs and tried them on but snapped them, I just had to walk off as I was laughing so much, Dan also walked the other way. He managed to hide them under a T-Shirt! They made an almighty snap too and the shop assistant didn't notice! We walked to the river over Worcester Street Bridge and watched people punting down the river, Dan nipped onto a tram and had a photo and we just sat taking in the sunshine.
During the evening we sat and had a few drinks together and some wine (cheers Dave for sharing it with me!).
It's been an absolutely lovely glorious day and very chilling so thanks everyone.

Friday 11th November 2005
Christchurch

Woke up really early this morning, being in the City, the cars are whizzing down the road before 7am

Penguins Crossing!

. I got up and saw Wayne up early as usual. We were going to go to an Agricultural show today but as we were all being SOOO lazy we just hung around chilling out and chatting at the hostel. We walked back into the town and sat in a lovely spot in the square watching some young guy trying to entertain the crowd although not many people were laughing at him, then he had the cheek to ask for a $5 note each from everyone! I used up the rest of my New Zealand credit calling home which was nice. A couple more of Wayne's work friends arrived here today they came to watch some races that were happening this weekend so Dave went off to the races with his new shearing buddies whom he'd never met! Wayne stayed at the hostel and decided to use the outdoor pool and kept us amused for a while showing off his white vest top tan doing hand stands in the pool...cheers Wayne!
As Wayne was meeting his boss in the town later that night we got freshened up and headed into a bar in town for a few drinks and some tea. It was our last night with Wayne so we had a couple of drinks and left the shearers to it just after 10 pm. They drink like beer won't be available tomorrow and we are on a budget!

Saturday 12th November 2005
Dropping off Errol!(CWJ 298)!!!

Woke this morning at 7.50 am to Wayne banging on the camper van, it was strange coz I kind of knew he would do it at some point! I had a quick shower and nipped to Starbucks for a coffee with him while Dan finished up and started packing his rucksack ready to drop the camper van off. I called a holiday park just down the road from where we were dropping Errol off so booked basic cabin for cheap only a few minutes to the airport

Views of New Zealand from the plane

. It took most of the morning to pack the stuff into our rucksacks and I was struggling for space! We took a walk into town to sort out the parking fine again and I posted some stuff back to the UK.
Wayne had been to pick up yet some more shearers from the airport so we met him when he got back for some lunch in the sunshine before saying goodbye!
It's been a lovely few days and Wayne being here has been extra special. We've had some good fun and we are sure we would like to put New Zealand on the map for a future trip at some point.
We drove to Christchurch Airport and got our tickets re-issued for Oz from Qantas. We then drove to the holiday park to drop off our rucksacks and filled Errol up with Fuel before dropping him back at Ezy. Goodbye Errol!
Ezy gave us a lift back to the holiday park where we just sat and watched a bit of telly before hitting the sack. Our plane leaves for Sydney at 6.35 am and then we fly from there to Cairns so had a taxi collect us at 4.45 am!
Updates on our flight will follow from Cairns....Aussie Land!!!

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Wayne and I in Cathedral Square, Christchurch

Wayne in Christchurch

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