Wanaka to Dunedin

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We were awoken with a SKYPE call from Danny and the children and really enjoyed the songs the children sang to us. They are over the chicken pox now and everyone looks really healthy what a lovely way to be woken up. 'Where's your beard gone Grandad said Harry and Rob said 'he gave it to me, would you like it and of course Harry said yes!
We left Wanaka on a very sunny, warm and windy morning. The waves were whipping up on the lake as we started our 250km route to Dunedin. It was a fast road with changing scenery from mountains and rivers that looked like the sea to farms, cattle grazing, fruit orchards and the forests seemed to be disappearing from the mountains so it looked very much like Scotland. There were lots of small towns and villages and we stopped for our usual coffee, it never ceases to amaze me how good the coffee is, no matter where you stop. The landscape changed again with rolling hills similar to those in Devon and there were sheep and cows dotted everywhere and the trees were again much in evidence. Fir trees and then many different types of deciduous trees it was really looking like England. We stopped by a lake to have lunch but the wind was fierce by then so we had to sit in the car. The lake was really green and the smell of rotting apples pervaded the air. We quickly moved on and the clouds came and went and we arrived in Dunedin. Not sure what we were expecting but it's perhaps the third biggest city we have been to and not much so far can be said in its favour Having found a motel the third we went to we set off in to town but it was nearing 5 and they were shutting yes Friday night and they were closing at 5. The day that had started so warm was ending with a cold wind so we drove to the Otago peninsula in an attempt to see the penguins however the road seemed to go on and on and we were not getting very far and we were hungry. We took a diversion to the Castle but that closed at 7 so we headed for the other side of the peninsula and went to the beach which at 7 in the evening on a windy day was obviously deserted but it was beautiful in that the waves were crashing in and the sand was white and there were no dead trees!We headed back in to town hoping for a warm pub with a fire and we were not disappointed and they even had Badger beer on draught no fire but it was warm inside. Dunedin was starting to look up.

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