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I left Stewart Island. After 9 days I finally went to the post office/flight centre and bought a stand by flight (no way I was getting on that boat back to the mainland). There was no room on the midday flight so I had to take the 4:30 flight. We were put into a van and driven out of the town and up a big hill to a little lonely patch of tarmac. The plane was a Cesna 8 passenger plane with two propellers (thats the best aviation lingo that I have). I sat beside the pilot and we chatted the whole 25 minute flight to Invercargill. The flight was a very beautiful flight and we flew quite low and could see all the beaches and boats. The sun was poking through the clouds to our left and their were storm clouds to the right. I am really starting to enjoy these little planes (possible career change?).
I spent the night in Invercargill. The big excitement of the evening was pizza as I had lived off of pasta and canned soup in Stewart Island due to lack of options. The pizza was good. The next morning I went to the
i-Site to book an afternoon bus to Dunedin but was told the last bus left in about 25 minutes. I slammed back a coffee and got on the mini bus to Dunedin. Let me tell you about these mini buses. They hold about 20 passengers or so and tow a little trailer for baggage. This makes them a little choppy at times and after very little wake up time and a belly full of undigested coffee and loaf cake (breakfast of champions) I was bouncing around New Zealand highways. The bus driver had the heat cranked and it seemed to come from all angles at me. In no time I was down to my t-shirt digging through my bag for some gravol pills. The ride was only around three hours so once the pills kicked in I was fine.
I arrived in Dunedin and ventured to my hostel. My pack just keeps on growing and Dunedin has hills of various sizes so my walk seemed much longer then it really was (about 20mins). In fact Dunedin is home to the Guiness world record holding steepest street, Baldwin Street. My goal for my days in Dunedin was to purchase a
guitar as I am headed to the mountains to do some work in near future and Dunedin being the last good sized town that I would see. I did accomplish this goal so now along with my big backpack I have a carry sized pack and a guitar. Any more additions and I will be hiring a sherpa to carry my things or maybe tow a little red wagon behind (just like in childhhood).
Dunedin is a city that was built to be a sister city to Edinburgh, Scotland. The architecture, the street names are very Scottish. It does lack the little corner shops that deep fry everything though (I like those). Dunedin even haves the rolling green hills in the background. Its a pretty city, that looks unlike other Kiwi cities. The only thing I did in Dunedin besides walk around and buy a guitar was to enjoy a beer brewery tour. Now brewery tours are something I rarely miss when I travel. For those who know me know that I do enjoy a good pint, I even enjoy a bad pint at times. So I took the advice from some Dunedin folks I met a few days
back and signed up for the last tour of the day. We took a tour of the working brewery. But more importantly we enjoyed some beers. Speight's makes about 6 types including a pilsner, a porter, a dark and a few ales. I liked the dark the best. After that I went to the hostel and played my guitar and enjoyed a few more beers.
The next morning I woke up in a mood. I had been woken up by somebody's snoring numerous times throughout the night. Also my enjoyment of beer had left a little band of drumming ogres playing in my head. So instead of staying in bed I decided I needed a new town. I packed my stuff went to front desk and booked a bus to Te Anau. The worst was the 30 minute walk (seemed more like a week) up and down the hills with the wind blowing my hat off my head and my guitar held in the hug position to keep it from blowing in the wind on the way to the bus station. After I unloaded my backpack I felt many times better and after a little trick I learned in Ireland I was feeling even better. The Irish taught me a good breakfast will bring you right around, so I found a place to get black pudding and eggs on toast (spot on). I was liking the world in no time.
The bus ride to Te Anau took about 4 1/2 hours and this included a 30 minute tea/coffee break at a little cafe perched atop a hill. Te Anau is a small mountain town that most people visit so they can go to Milford or Doubtful Sound. I was looking forward to getting into the mountains again and just relaxing. Its funny the things you learn about yourself when you travel. I have discovered my love of places that are more relaxed or are slower paced. After 9 days on a little island I spend a little more then 48 hours before I was on my way to another little town. Hmmm.... funny I didn't know I enjoyed the great outdoors this much. I do have plans for the next few days (thats a rare thing) to enjoy a few outdoor activities.
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