Dunedin and back again.

In contrast to my previous post dear reader, this a pot of coffee and double chocolate muffin length epistle. We have been away to the Deep South for the week, and as it has been busy so I will recount in chronological order.

We had a 7.25am flight from Auckland to Dunedin, last Saturday morning and exchanged cool clear weather for rain, but had a nice warm welcome from Claire and Ryan. After collecting the hire car and driving to their place we had a wander through town on our way to the farmers market at the railway station. One of the few perks of Claire’s job is that she can use the company car park in the middle of town at the weekends, which is very handy. Nicky sidled into a second-hand clothes shop and quickly spotted a gorgeous green silk jacket which was duly purchased and will probably get a lot of use. In spite of the cold damp weather there were an excellent range of stalls at the market. We bought some Whitestone cheese, dark rye bread, smoked venison, rocket and tomatoes, all of which turned out to be really tasty when we got to eat them.

We felt like something hot for lunch so Claire and Ryan introduced us to Circadian Rhythm, which is a vegan, vegetarian and gluten free café. The style and decor may be modest, but the range and quality of the food is excellent. I had butter mushrooms and rice (lovely) followed by mud cake and coffee, and Nicky had half portions of tofu samba and a curry and rice, followed by a citrus slice and tea. Once replete, we collected our hire car from C&R’s and checked into our George Street motel, Owens. This was spacious, tidy and well furnished accommodation, though the bed could have been longer for me. We unpacked and had a quick turnaround before walking back into town to meet C&R for a tour of the Speight’s Brewery. The rain had almost stopped so the walk down George Street was quite pleasant. The tour round the old and new brewery was very good, and finished with free beer tasting - even better!

Nicky and I were getting a little jaded by this time (early evening) so we investigated a cinema and found a film we wanted to see starting in a few minutes time. We said goodbye to C&R (who I think went off in search of chips) and queued for tickets, only to find out that it was sold out. So, we took a meandering route back to the motel through the University and were rewarded with a little evening sunshine. We ate some of our market purchases for tea, had a quick raid on the Night ’n Day 24 hour store across the road for milk and a couple of other basics, before settling down for an evening with our books and an early night in bed.

Sunday was dry and sunny and turned out to be a perfect day for what we had planned. Nicky went off to church and just got back intime for us to walk down to the station to catch our 9.30 departure on the Taieri Gorge Railway. This is a six-hour trip to Middlemarch and back, up the gorge with spectacular views on vintage rolling stock; ours was panelled with beautiful golden wood. Each car had viewing platforms at each end which were well used, even though the wind was quite cold. We stopped a couple of times on the way up to stretch our legs and take even more photographs, and once on the way down. Claire had packed us a picnic lunch of salad and lovely home-made rolls, to which Nicky added a bottle of The Ned Sauvignon Blank purchased from the pub who picnic benches we were using. We had just under an hour to lunch and see the sights before the return journey.

The weather was still good when we got back to Dunedin, so C&R took us up Mt Cargill for some truly magnificent views of Dunedin. We then headed for the coast at St Claire and had an early evening meal in a café on the front, watching to sea and the gulls. I thoroughly enjoyed my mushroom cannelloni  and Nicky her fried sardines and insalata, while C&R shared pizza and chips.

It was a very good day, and in retrospect the train trip was the highlight of the week for us - the time with Claire and Ryan, the views, the weather, and the shared lunch. For me, it’s what good holiday activities are all about.

C&R were back to their respective jobs on Monday so Nicky and I took Quentin the hire car for a trip along the peninsula. First stop was the Glenfalloch Woodland Garden, which occupies 30 acres of hillside, some wild, some managed. Apart from another couple who only stayed a few minutes, we were the only visitors. After an hour of enjoyable wandering we were ready for a cup of tea, but the on-site café wasn’t open and there seemed to be no staff anywhere. So, we headed off for Lanarch Castle, but couldn’t get access to their café without paying a $13.50 each (gardens) or $29 each (house and gardens) entry fee, so didn’t stop.

We continued up the peninsula knowing there was a café at the albatross sanctuary, while enjoying the scenery and looking out for other cup of tea possibilities. Lunch at the albatross café turned out to be very good - tomato soup for Nicky and seafood chowder for me (both served with thickly sliced toasted ciabatta) followed by tea coffee and a shared piece of hummingbird cake (banana cake with pineapple). Nicky wrote postcards and we looked round the information centre before walking to the viewing decks on the cliffs. We didn’t see any albatross or seals, but got very close to some red beaked gulls, a species which had featured on a natural history programme which we had watched the night before.

We started back around 4, had a lovely though short walk along Allans Beach (the weather wasn’t as good on the south side), and Nicky fell in love with Portabello. I didn’t have a problem with this as there is a road called Bacon Street near-by which strikes me as an excellent address. This trip was our first real bit of driving down south, and I was struck by some of the signage. The council obviously think that drivers down there are quite bright as at the end of one way streets there are No Entry signs as you would expect, but up here in Auckland underneath many of the No Entry signs is another sign: Wrong Way, just to reinforce the message for the intellectually challenged.

Some of you may know that Nicky lived in Dunedin many years ago and worked at the University Library, so she wanted to see her old haunts (I was after the CCTV footage but it never existed) and visit one of her old friends, Inger. She managed to contact Inger and we arranged to have dinner with her on Monday evening. She lives a short walk from a restaurant called No 7 Balmic which has a good reputation, so that is where we ate. Nicky and Inger had a good chat about what has happened in their respective lives in the last 37 years, and we enjoyed some excellent food. We started off with a shared tasting platter which really got us in the mood for the main event - venison for me and steak for Nicky, and I think Inger had fish. N&I shared a dessert (the special for the day) while I had Belgian chocolate pudding. It was a very good evening and a nice way to end our initial stay in Dunedin.

Tuesday dawned with promising weather, though we had some rain later during our drive to Wanaka. We packed and left Owens motel where we had enjoyed a comfortable stay. First stop was Lawrence. We did some shopping in the Post Shop, Nicky had a good chat with the sales lady and bought some proper “fit-over” sunglasses instead of “borrowing” my normal ones, and took over the driving. We arrived in Roxburgh at mid-day and easily found Jimmy’s pies (it’s on the main road through the town). I had a venison and recurrent and Nicky had bacon and egg - both very good. We also bought a banana cake which turned out to be very good too. I took over the driving again in Alexandra and as we approached Cromwell it started to rain, which curtailed my desire to keep stopping to take pictures of the scenery. We found the historic old town, which has been created from buildings that would have been lost when the dam was built and the valley flooded, and as we strolled round the rain stopped. We enjoyed an early afternoon cup of tea before continuing our journey. Just outside Cromwell we stopped to buy fresh and dried fruit and nuts. It looked a nice wee place and we may return to Cromwell on another trip.

It started to get a little warmer as we continued north, arriving in Wanaka about 4pm. We found the motel easily and were the only guests at that point. Texting Rachel resulted in an arrangement for us to go round to her for a late diner, so we had some more of our Dunedin farmers market produce for afternoon tea, then walked round to Rachel’s in light rain. We had a good long chat before tucking into spaghetti bolognese followed by strawberries, cherries and dipping chocolate (some of our Cromwell purchases). Joel came home later and kindly drove us back to the motel as the rain was getting heavier. It was good to meet him and have some time with them both.

We had a bright an sunny start to Wednesday so had a pre-breakfast wander down to the lake and I found the wind much colder than I expected. After returning to the motel for our statutory porridge, we geared up properly before heading out for the day. Reconnaissance of the shops for various items was first on the list. We walked along the Millennium timeline and then round the lake to Eely Point. If we could have found a sheltered spot in the sun it would have been warm, but the very strong and bitting wind made it feel quite cold, and we were glad to be wearing layers.

We met up with Rachel at the pharmacy where she is working part-time, I bought some new sunglasses, and the three of us had a late lunch (Joel joined us for coffee). Nicky had a very good steak sandwich and I enjoyed my eggs benedict on brioche. We meandered back to the motel doing our shopping on the way, feeling quite tired and buffeted by the wind. Rachel dropped in on her way home from work in the evening for a hot chocolate and a final goodbye.

Thursday dawned sunny and windy and we noticed that some fresh snow had been deposited on the tops overnight. We packed the car, said goodbye to the very nice motel, and went in search of a quitting shop called Christopher Robin’s. Once found Nicky discovered fabrics she had never seen before and got overly-excited. We had time to drive a little way up the west side of the lake before retracing our steps and heading out of town. We enjoyed our time in Wanaka and its “dedicated to holidays” feel, and is another place on our “return to” list.

The café in Tarras was our next stop for lunch - bagel with smoked salmon (chunky) and avocado for me, and salmon, asparagus and feta flan for Nicky. This wasn’t as warm as it could have been and 24 hours later gave Nicky some digestive grief. The scenery had already been stunning before we reached the Lindis Pass, where we stopped for more obligatory photos in the sunshine. We arrived in Omarama just before 2pm for our hot tub booking. This had been recommended to us by Claire and we now understand why. The facility has been very well designed, is well landscaped and appointed, and in a great location. You wallow in your own private tub heated by a wood-burning stove drinking in gorgeous scenery and watching the gliders criss-cross in the azure sky. It was just fantastic.

Dragging our warm very pink selves away we hit the road again heading east, through Oamaru, then south through Herbet to The Mill House, our motel for the night. This was the cheapest one we stayed in and the difference was obvious, but it was clean and tidy, warm and safe. We unpacked (a little) then headed down the road to find a mini-market and buy bread and humus. Across the road was a takeaway so we succumbed and bought fish and chips, which we took back to the motel and were pretty good. We had a quiet Thursday evening watching our usual TV programmes and enjoying a bottle of dessert wine which we had bought in Wanaka.

I woke on Friday morning with a bit of a niggle in my back, which I put down to a soft (though good length) bed. In reality I now think I strained something unloading the car the day before, because by the time I had re-loaded the car it was getting very noticeable. By the time I unloaded the car again on Friday afternoon, I was in quite a bit of pain. This didn’t stop us enjoying the day however. After breakfast we went back up to Oamaru to the Whitestone cheese factory and shop, and had a wonderful time. We tasted 10 different cheeses (some for free), had tea and coffee, very interesting conversations with two other travelling couples, and then spent Claire’s inheritance on cheese (what a way to go!). Their Mount Kyeburn, a smoked version of their stunning Totara Tasty, was my number one.

We took the coast road past Kakanui beach on the way south again to our next destination, the Moeraki Boulders. The beach was quite busy (by NZ standards) and Nicky was horrified to see a donation box for the beach access, but the wind was light and the sun was shinning so we had our picnic on the beach. I couldn’t, so didn’t, resist a paddle before having a pot of tea in the café, which we viewed as our donation. Nicky assumes the owners must be English. The rest of the drive south to Dunedin was in sunshine, until we got to George Street where we had a hail storm, but it had finished by the time we got to our motel on York Place. This was our most expensive residence of the trip, and had a nice bathroom (underfloor heating), but no tea pot. The room was comfortable and well appointed, and the bed was just long enough. Nicky persuaded me to organise a massage for my back, and I got a 9.30 appointment for Saturday.

Before meeting C&R for dinner we had time to walk down memory lane and view all the places where Nicky had lived back in the ‘70s. Only one has been replaced by a three lane road. We headed into town after a quick comfort break at the motel and met C&R at Circadian Rhythm. Friday night is live jazz night, and the two-piece were very good and not too loud. The food was excellent again - Claire and I had corn fritter stacks, Nicky had cashew nuts and vegetable stir-fry, and Ryan went for the all-you-can-eat buffet. For dessert Nicky had a mango lassi and I had a warm and delicious pecan brownie. It was a really nice meal. To round off the evening we bought a Brown Brothers red wine from New World and went back to the motel to drink it (I didn’t want Nicky to slip back into her ’70’s ways). It was a great way to spend the last evening of our holiday.

We had a bit of a slow start to Saturday, and I was in quite a bit of pain. I had to leave Nicky to finish the packing and check out while I went off for my massage at The Muscle Mechanics. The massage felt good but didn’t provide immediate relief, but I think it will help with the healing process. Nicky came and met me and we walked down to the farmers market to meet C&R. First purchase was a cup of tea, then more smoked venison and a bottle of stunningly good coffee and cinnamon liqueur called Quick Brown Fox - a local product. Two things for us to take home to go with our major cheese purchase.

We then went to Mosgiel for their Christmas market, which was OK but a little thin. The overcast skies and cool breeze didn’t encourage us to stay, so we headed for the airport early and had plenty of time for hot drinks before our 4.35 departure. The flight was uneventful, though there was less cloud than on the way down so I got a view from time to time. Luna was waiting patiently in the car park and got us safely home, where we brewed tea, made toast, and started on THE CHEESE.

Today has been dryer than expected and we have got most of the washing done, ready for a new month, the official beginning of summer, and the return to work.

We have really enjoyed our week in the Deep South. It was very good to see Claire and Ryan again and the life they are making for themselves. I am very proud of both of them and was grateful for the amount of time they were able to spend with us. This was my first trip to the South Island, and I am really looking forward to my next one.

Take care,

Rick