Well we were coming close to the end of our trip and time for our earliest start! The braver among our group (including all the Waltons!) rose early to go down to the octagonal in the centre of Dunedin, to watch Ireland take on the All Blacks in Dublin. A local kickoff of 17.15 meant a 06.15 start for us. There were a few tired and sore heads from the night before including Pa. As it turned out we could have spent the morning in bed. Ireland played okay for the first 30 minutes before being blown away by a far superior team. Luckily the sports bar we were in contained more Irish than Kiwis, so the abuse wasn’t too bad.

Soon we were back on the road and making our way up the coast towards Christchurch. We stopped off at a beach, about an hour away, to get a look at the Moeraki boulders. These boulders are built up over millions of years and are formed somewhat like pearl. They are very unusual to look at and seem quite out of place on the beach. After a brief stop and coffee we were back on the road.

Pete brought us to a very nice gift shop, another 40mins or so along the way, called the Tin Shed. They specialised in wool garments and other souvenirs. We all had a good poke around, and Pa topped up on some Manuka Honey. The shop try to create a fun atmosphere about the place and so have a number of farm animals. We wandered around chatting to the donkeys, goats, sheep, alpacas, pigs, and hens.

Our next and final stop was a late lunch in a coffee shop, owned and run by Pete & Marg’s eldest son Mark. Unfortunately Pete was in a spot of trouble, having failed to inform Mark that 40 hungry people were turning up at 3pm. They coped very well and all the customers left satisfied.

Only an hour further on to Christchurch and we were back to normality, well sort of!!

Getting up in the mornings is getting harder to do, but the rewards are worth it. Living out of one bag is also a royal pain. I started my day with an argument with a french waitress at breakfast, vented some of my anger and I was ready to start the day! We headed east for Gore, travelling across some of the flatest plains in the south island. This meant good farming land but not too much to look at apart from paddock lice (sheep), milking cows, and deer. We continued on to Dunedin. This land was settled by the Scottish, hence the name of the city, a cross between Dundee and Edinburgh. The landscape is quite similar to the Scottish highlands so I would imagine they felt quite at home. We stopped to pick up some lunch and made our way on to the Otago Peninsula.

Our first stop was a Yellow-Eyed penguin sanctuary. An area of beach where they nest has been cordoned off and a santuary established. We were bused over to the nesting site and led through camoflaged tunnels. The tunnels meant you could get very close to the penguins without upsetting them or frightening them. We also got to see a number of seals sunbathing on the rocks and playing on the beach.

We moved further up the peninsula to the head where there is an albatross centre. This is the only mainland site in the world where albatross nest. They are amazing birds, huge in size with a wing span of roughly twice my height (3 metres). They do not fly for the first seven or eight months of their life, but once they do take flight they circumnavigate Antarctica for 4 or 5 years until they are ready to find a mate. The oldest recorded albatross at this site was 62 years old.

We loaded back onto the bus and took the scenic high road back to Dunedin. After a brief stop to freshen up we headed into the octagon in Dundedin city centre for dinner. We ended up in a sports bar and all had stonegrilled food. Stonegrill is a large stone which is roasting hot, your food (meat, fish) is served raw on the stone and you cook it to taste. It was great fun and delicous to eat. Myself, Ash & Ma headed back for the motel, while Pa was lead astray by a few of the others! Big match in the morning, sports bar are showing live and serving brekkie.