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Published: August 6th 2007
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We survived the night you'll be glad to know. No real incidents apart from the temperature dropping to minus 3 and the feeling going from our tootsies. We awoke to an audience though. A dozen big cows all stood in a line staring at us. I think we were invading their territory. We got moo-ving quickly (mainly to get the circulation going).
First stop a little known tourist site. We took a beaten path and then headed off it. We followed a lonely road for a bit and then on to a road to nowhere. Finally this led to a dirt track and we were worrying we may have taken 15 wrong turns. And then we got to a gate. Gates are meant for people to go through so through we went.
A little bit down the very bumpy road we got to a second gate manned by 3 burly looking sheep. They kindly stood aside as we headed through. Finally after another couple of km's we got there. We were at some clay cliffs and pinacles and they were definitely worth driving into no mans land to get to. They were really strange and looked like they should
have been in the middle east or africa rather than the plush wetlands of south NZ. Very bizarre. They really should be on some kind of tourist route but obviously aren't as we saw nobody at all. Look out for them next time you're in the middle of nowhere.
We carried on cruising then and headed past the Benmore dam which was pretty nice and then continued on towards Dunedin. Along the way it started to snow again and then rain and then sleet and the temperature kept dropping. Whilst we had been in Twizel we had heard about June 12th last year when 2m of snow had been dumped and it stayed till September. We weren't looking forward to that happening. We saw a sign for some Maori stone paintings so pulled in for a look. They were rubbish so we kept moving.
On the coast about 30km north of Dunedin we got to our next stop which were the Moeraki Boulders which were really cool. Big cylindrical boulders all over a beautiful beach and you could see new ones popping out of the cliffs. They were about 500m from our parking spot so you just knew
the weather was waiting for us to get all the way there before it unleashed gales, sleet, hail, snow and rain in fury upon us. We were soaked by the time we got back. They were still worth it though. We are starting to get used to the weather here.
We landed in Dunedin in the middle of the afternoon and it is a silly town. It's built on the most ridiculous hills you can imagine so Cookie struggled getting over any of them. There is absolutely no parking and there are no camping spots anywhere near the centre. We spent about 2 hours going around and around and around in circles before heading about 2km out to a beachfront place for the night.
In the morning it still looked miserable but we gamely headed out towards Otago peninsula to go penguin and seal spotting. We got to the main beach area and it is another 20 minute walk on to where they all sun bathe. Within 5 minutes we were back in the van with blistered faces from the severe gales, numb hands from the snow and ice and even head freezes. We hadn't even had slush
puppies. If we were going to see the wildlife they were going to have to come to us. They didn't.
We headed instead to a Guiness world record site. The steepest street in the world. Baldwin street in north Dunedin. This street is steep. It's in the 1998 Guinness book if you want to check it out and it comes in at 1 in 2.866 or something like that. They have a competition every year to race up and down it and people do it in about 2 minutes. Loads of others also break bones. Given the slippy conditions under foot we took it slowly. We saw lots of boy racers though razzing up and down in their beat up cars trying to prove something to someone who probably wasn't watching.
After checking into a hostel for the night we thought that indoor entertainment was probably the best idea given the weather so headed off to Cadbury world This was Mrs Deane's choice obviously. We got some samples and saw all about how chocolate was made although we only really went for the samples. Cadbury's chocolate tastes different over here - something to do with the creaminess of
the cows I think.
Next on the agenda was my choice. Beer. The Speights brewery to be precise. An excellent trip. The tour was great and very informative and the beer tasting was sublime. I can chalk another half dozen beers up on the list. We learnt a lot of new facts including the fact that the brewery has its own source of water underneath the plant and provides a tap for the public. This tap appeared on a Billy Connolly tour in 2004 and people queue every day to get some of this water. We also learnt that little Dunedin is in fact one of the biggest cities in the world due to the fact that it's city boundaries cover half of the south island (or so we were told).
After the brewery it was off down the pub for a bit of scran and a view of the All Blacks walloping France. And then home to bed. Time for pastures new on the west coast tomorrow. If we make it. Half the roads are closed with snow falls so we shall see how we go. Don't worry Mr Golden-Father-in-law - you'll be glad to know we
have 3 torches, at least one of them has batteries and loads of blankets.
See you later,
Deane & Co.
Beer 110: Steinlager, New Zealand, Can, 5.0%, 8.0, The most famous NZ brew and very tasty it is
Beer 111: DB Draught, New Zealand, Bottle, 4.0%, 7.5, tasty but not much to write home about
Beer 112: Speights Gold Medal Ale, New Zealand, Draught, 4.0%, 8.0, a fine tipple and hopefully on its way to the UK
Beer 113: Speights Fireside Ale, New Zealand, Draught, 5.5%, 8.0, a new seasonal ale out this week to warm the cockles for winter. Does the job very well.
Beer 114: Speights Porter, New Zealand, Draught, 5.0%, 8.5, Excellent. The pick of the bunch and the finest porter I've had in a while. Mrs Deane approved too.
Beer 115: Speights Distinction Ale, New Zealand, Draught, 5.0%, 6.5, A little below par compared to the other ales on offer
Beer 116: Speights Pale Ale, New Zealand, Draught, 4.5%, 8.0, Nice biscuit flavours and a crisp finish. Only kidding, another fine beer
Beer 117: Speights Old Dark, New Zealand, Draught, 4.0%, 7.0, Had high hopes after
the porter but it let me down a little
Beer 118: Speights Pilsener, New Zealand, Draught, 5.0%, 7.5, A decent Czech style beer but not the best of the Speights brews.
P.S. Next time will be the Golden Bloggies. I know at least 2 of you have been on tenterhooks waiting for the results and I'll put you out of your misery soon.
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