Blogs from Oamaru, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

Howdy everyone, we have now arrived at Oamaru which is by the coast. We left Akaroa at 1/4 to 9 this morning and started the 'hairy scarey ride' here. It was raining so hard, completely different than yesterday! now have to get the winter clothes out !! Anyway took us 5 hours with one coffee stop on the way, so not too bad. We just keep forgetting how long the distances are, you look at the map and think, that's not far and then you work it out and it's like half a day gone. It seems what is estimated, you need to add a further hour on the trip. We arrived at 'Old Bones lodge', very nice, we have our own room indoors !! That's a bonus !! Shared bathroom but very nice. The communal ... read more

The East Coast. Onze dag begint aan de Moeraki Boulders. Ronde balletjes van een 3m diameter die op het strand liggen. Hoe ze daar terecht gekomen zijn en hoe ze gevormd zijn is een groot mysterie. Maar het is wel tof om te zien. Sommige zien er letterlijk uit als gigantische stenen voetballen. Na Moeraki stoppen we even in Oamaru. Dit stadje was heel succesvol als haven in de jaren 1800, maar is dan in armoede verzeild geraakt. Dit zorgt ervoor dat heel het stadje nog steeds in een Victoriaanse stijl is opgebouwd (er was geen geld voor vernieuwing). Wat het nu natuurlijk prachtig maakt om door te lopen! Daarnaast is er hier ook een Blue Penguin kolonie, de meest bedreigde penguinsoort. Bij zonsondergang kun je een tour boeken waarbij je alle penguins ziet terugkeren uit ... read more

It rained over night but the morning finally opened up to clear skies. After yesterday it was good news. Our breakfast was once again set in style in the main dining room. Most of us had a continental breakfast but then opted for scrambled eggs as well. Allison and Bruce looked after us with grace and style with Allison imparting her knowledge on her self sufficient skills. We eventually gathered up all our wet/dry gear from yesterday and said our goodbyes to our most excellent hosts. What a place to stay. We first retraced our tracks to where we had gone wrong yesterday (up and down the hills) on Burnside Road then onto gravel for a bit. It was still water logged so we biked on the road. After maybe 12kms we got to the old ... read more

Tuesday 10th December, 2013. Dunedin to Oamaru We woke up quite late - exhausted after yesterday's marathon adventures. We were in no rush to leave Dunedin as we had a tour of Speights Brewery booked for 12.30 pm. We decided to pass the first couple of hours visiting the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. The entry was free. The first room contained loads of 'artworks' by some geezer who liked to play around with fluorescent tubes (M wasn't impressed). There was a small room exhibiting some more traditional paintings by Frances Hodgkins. She had travelled widely and used the medium of watercolour very skillfully. Next was a room full of photographs by Gregory Crewdson. These were all scenes from the USA. They were very moody pieces and certainly made you feel that you wouldn't want to live ... read more

Ok Del Boy taking over the reins for a time, Set off from bluff, blowing a gail "he who dares wins rodders" stopped at the beach near nugget point, got some currant on the old boat race. then of for the jolly boys outing, Lovely Jubbly,,,,,, Right thats enough, Sam's back, had a great ride some wonderful scenery all the way,got the camcorder mounted on the bike, some good footage going through the Catlins, proper bike roads and no traffic, stopped in Dundine last night, short ride to Oamaru, the country has flattened out now, tomorrow will be an epic ride up to Lake Aviemore then back down to Queenstown, one overnight there the the west coast, the glasiers and the moutians, have to wrap up warm, Ta Ta for now ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you know it makes ... read more