What to do for hours in Auckland Airport?

Not a lot is the answer.

Today was Lyn’s birthday. We realised the absurdities of our itinerary. This had us flying to Auckland and then waiting an eternity for a connecting flight. Auckland airport is just not that interesting so we hiked in search of amusement. I put in a very creditable performance at Putt Putt. We bought Lyn a shell pendant at the airport shop. Then it was home to Australia and Warrimoo.

Lyn says we need to go back and see the North Island. I say we need to go back to see the northern bit of the South Island. Then there are the bits we missed this time: Invercargill, most of the Caitlins, the High Alps, the glaciers ... and the bits we don’t even know we missed ...

Moeraki to Marmite

After two nights in Dunedin it was time to drive north to Christchurch. It is not an exciting drive unless you are Lyn.  We had to stop to look at sundry sheep and alpacas and admire (as we had throughout) the regional variations in hay stacks. Along the way we made two stops. We saw the odd Moeraki Boulders. These are unusually large and spherical rocks lying along a stretch of Koekohe Beach. We also stopped for a break at the rose garden at Oamaru.

We really did not have the time to head inland to see Mt Cook. (The highest alps could be seen from a distance as we drove – another case of next time.) At Christchurch we had one more mission. We needed to find the Marmite factory for Kassie Cottee. Mission accomplished, we returned the car, stayed overnight at an airport hotel and packed for home. 

 

 

Dunedin

We had a great day exploring Dunedin. We went for a short walk on the Otago Peninsula. The views were spectacular.

Dunedin is an odd place. It began as a sort of Scottish immigrant colony and by the beginning of the 20th Century was a bit of a boom town. This is reflected in its improbable railway station, designed by an architect known as 'Gingerbread George'. Inside there were beautiful old stained glass windows. It even has a decent little sports museum. 

Larnach Castle was a spectacular old house in an incredible setting. The story of the family who built it was rather sad.

Dunedin is a university city so we enjoyed the cheap restaurants and were blessed by beautiful weather. 

Crossing Over - Te Anau to Dunedin

After sleeping soundly in Te Anau we woke to sunny skies and a world transformed. In the night there had been very heavy snow all over the Southern Alps, in January! We walked outside to a brilliant blue lake ringed by snow-capped mountains.

We had a driving day ahead of us. We didn’t have the time to go further south along the scenic route or to Invercargill. We cut straight across the island along the Waipahu Highway through country towns like Gore and Clinton. But EVERY drive is a scenic drive in the South Island and we got to see lots of hills and sheep and coloured mailboxes and road signs.  Lyn became increasingly obsessed by the mailboxes. They were all the same design but came in different colours.

At Balclutha we diverted to the coast to see “the Nuggets” from Nugget Point and stopped at the unfortunately named Kaka Beach on the way.

We walked out to Nugget Point Lighthouse and heard and saw, and definitely smelt, the fur seals way below us.

After a pleasant drive we arrived at Dunedin where we will spend the next two nights.

 

 

Water, water everywhere ...

We were lucky today. The morning dawned grey and grim but the tour guide had been tipped off that the road tunnel into Milford Sound would open later that morning - so we set off. The guided tour seemed a good idea to Lyn because apparently the long road tunnel into Milford Sound is not really scary in a crowded mini-bus but definitely is scary in a car (with me).  Also big boats are ok but small boats are not. (This is what I live with.)

We waited in the traffic lined up at the tunnel entrance. It opened despite some epic overnight rainfall that on the previous day had washed bridges away on the road to Haast Pass. If anything, all that rain made the day even more spectacular. 

We spent the day towered over by mountains which disappeared into clouds. Waterfalls fell thousands of feet into the sea. It was a universe of water. There were seals.

The day trip to Milford Sound is difficult to capture in photographs because they don’t give a proper sense of scale. So look carefully at the picture above and you will see a boat. It is a big boat. You will also notice you cannot see the tops of the mountains.

It was a great day.  

Rainy Day Driving

My plans for Queenstown didn't work out, frustrated again by the weather. We had hoped to go on the cable car to take in the views but it was closed because of the increasing wind and rain. When we tried to explore the town we were caught in a massive traffic jam from which it took us over an hour to escape.

We drove south along the lake shore and then west, in ever worsening weather, to Te Anau. Our day trip to Milford Sound was due to leave from here next morning. 

At our motel we were told that the road into Milford Sound was closed but that there were "fingers crossed" for the next morning. We put on our rain jackets and walked along the lake shore. It was hard to see much but we enjoyed the air after a frustrating day.

The lake at Te Anau with the mountains obscured by cloud.