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Dunedin Railway Station.<br />
<strong>Tour</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zeal<strong>and</strong></strong><br />
Tuesday 31 st Jan. We were on the road again today<br />
travelling 167 miles to Invercargill. The morning part <strong>of</strong> the<br />
journey was in brilliant sunshine with yet more stunning<br />
views. We stopped for lunch in Owaka. During the afternoon<br />
we had hoped to visit the “Cathedral Caves” on Waipati<br />
beach but had to ab<strong>and</strong>on this idea when the weather<br />
suddenly changed to very heavy rain <strong>and</strong> extremely strong<br />
winds. We stopped <strong>and</strong> put our wet suits on <strong>and</strong> continued<br />
with the hood down (A big mistake). By the time we arrived<br />
at Invercargill we were soaked <strong>and</strong> cold.<br />
Wet in Invercargill.<br />
As it was a free night we had an evening meal with other<br />
members <strong>of</strong> our group in the hotel <strong>and</strong> there was much<br />
joviality.<br />
Wednesday 1 st Feb. The weather was dry but windy so<br />
we mopped out the Lagonda prior to visiting the Richardson<br />
Truck Museum which has a vast array <strong>of</strong> commercial<br />
vehicles. Whilst interesting it was not really Hazel’s or my<br />
“cup <strong>of</strong> tea”. In the afternoon we drove 20 miles to Bluff this<br />
being the most southerly point <strong>of</strong> the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zeal<strong>and</strong></strong><br />
mainl<strong>and</strong>. The trip there was wet <strong>and</strong> windy but luckily<br />
whilst we were actually at Bluff the rain stopped <strong>and</strong> we<br />
took some pictures in the dry. (See below)<br />
Too costly for a ride in this Moth.<br />
The drive was unusual as the road was virtually straight <strong>and</strong><br />
flat although it did go downhill significantly as we<br />
approached the hotel close to the stunning Te Anau lake.<br />
Friday 3 rd Feb. Another early start today as we were<br />
picked up <strong>by</strong> coach at 9.15 to take us on our “Doubtful<br />
Sound Wildlife Cruise”. This was a full day event which<br />
involved a coach ride to the lake, then crossing “Lake<br />
Manapouri” on a ferry, followed <strong>by</strong> a scary bus ride over the<br />
21 kilometre “Wilmot pass”, a mountainous unmade road,<br />
before arriving at Doubtful Sound where we boarded<br />
another ferry for a tour <strong>of</strong> the sound. The sheer size <strong>of</strong> the<br />
mountains, the waterfalls coupled with the tranquillity <strong>and</strong><br />
the remoteness, made it a very eerie place especially as it<br />
was wet <strong>and</strong> misty. It rains here for over 300 days a year!<br />
Saturday 4 th Feb. Off to Queenstown today <strong>and</strong> it is<br />
only 106 miles. The weather was damp <strong>and</strong> overcast to start<br />
with but brightened up as we drove along. There was much<br />
more traffic around as it was the start <strong>of</strong> the bank holiday<br />
weekend. A very easy route <strong>and</strong> we only used 3 different<br />
road numbers.<br />
Sunday 5 th Feb. Today we went for a 40 minute trip<br />
across lake “Wakatipu” on steamship “TSS Earnslaw” to<br />
Walter Peak, a sheep ranch where we were hosted to a<br />
spectacular barbecue followed <strong>by</strong> a sheep shearing<br />
demonstration.<br />
Later in the afternoon we went into Invercargill town centre<br />
<strong>and</strong> found it a desolate place <strong>and</strong> decided we did not like it,<br />
so went back to the hotel.<br />
Thursday 2 nd Feb. Today started in an unusual manner<br />
when Hazel accidently dropped one <strong>of</strong> her earrings into the<br />
wash basin <strong>and</strong> it fell down the plug hole. As the earring had<br />
sentimental value I retrieved it <strong>by</strong> dismantling the wash<br />
basin U bend trap, recovering the <strong>of</strong>fending item prior to reassembling<br />
the hotel plumbing. Today we are travelling 136<br />
miles to Te Anau. A lunch stop had been pre-arranged en<br />
route at “Miss Cocoa Cafe” at M<strong>and</strong>eville airport <strong>and</strong><br />
aviation museum. We arrived mid morning <strong>and</strong> looked<br />
around the museum before lunch in the cafe. After lunch<br />
some members <strong>of</strong> our group paid for flights in a Tiger Moth<br />
but we decided this was too expensive so set <strong>of</strong>f for our<br />
hotel.<br />
Afterwards we had time to look around the farm with its<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> different sheep <strong>and</strong> walk around the very colourful<br />
gardens. There was a pianist on board the steamship <strong>and</strong><br />
we had a good “sing song” on the return journey with Hazel<br />
taking a lead role.<br />
Monday 6 th Feb. We took the public bus to “Arrowtown”<br />
this being a restored gold mining town with touristy shops<br />
<strong>and</strong> a fascinating museum giving a good insight as to the<br />
way <strong>of</strong> life when gold mining was in progress. The bus trip<br />
was also interesting as it called in at many <strong>of</strong> the small<br />
hamlets <strong>and</strong> we were able to see a combination <strong>of</strong> old <strong>and</strong><br />
new housing.