We had to be at the station by 2:30 p.m. for our seat allocation, which meant we had the morning free to do whatever we wished. So we chose to do the washing, visit the Botanical gardens and to go to the museum but did not time the museum very well as we missed the planetarium and the exhibition. We did however get to experience the intricacies of Dunedin parking meters. However no keys were lost today 😊

The rain started on the way back to Dunedin and by the time we got back to the van park it was quite wet as illustrated by Keiran’s little accident

We’re somewhat spoiled for beautiful beaches at home so couldn’t really get enthused about this stony sandless beach near the Waitaki River mouth

We could have driven straight down the highway to Dunedin but that would have been too easy, so instead we chose to go the longest possible way sticking to the coast whenever we could. But first we had to buy some essentials: a wok, sharp knife and scissors.

Moeraki Boulders

Back on the road after lunch

Getting close to Dunedin

Dunedin Railway Station

My late afternoon walk, while Keiran did some horizontal exercise, where he also managed to lose the car keys again. This time in the bowels of the sofa bed exercise apparatus in the communal room.

Well, it was still wet and cold when we woke up this morning, though the hot showers and heater in the van were very much appreciated. As was the wise decision to get a powered site, which meant that we could run the heater.

Apart from getting to Oamaru, we didn’t have any firm plans for today, which was just as well because Keiran as navigator inadvertently chose a scenic, though indirect route.

And on the way I spotted this:

And Keiran spotted this eco friendly rig:

Lake Aviemore.

The rest of the drive to to Oamaru was scenic though uneventful, though lunch at Subway was appreciated. Even more appreciated was the opportunity to buy two more doonas and pillows, as our hire van is somewhat under supplied.

Oamaru Victorian Precinct

Then we played

Holmes Wharf

The gods were not really on our side today as the weather was cold and wet and I was quite debilitated with this nasty cold. So no walking for Peter today.

Also I slept quite poorly as the doona in the van was quite inadequate. We tried to buy a new one but without success.

So we made a relatively early start (for us that is) and headed to Lake Tekapo.

And then to Mount Cook

We saw some amazing scenery on the way

We had a little bit of drama at lunchtime as Keiran thought he’d lost the car keys but found them in his pocket.

The rain really set in on our way to Twizel and we were lucky to get the last site in the caravan park.

Today began with an Uber ride to collect our campervan. However we had a major disappointment in finding out that because Keiran is on a provisional licence, he is not allowed to drive the van.

Once we were mobile, it was time to buy provisions for our travels and fortunately there was a large shopping centre just down the road. Shopping done, a quick trip back to the apartment to pick up our bags and we were ready to hit the road.

The drive was not easy as a gale was blowing out van around quite a bit and I wasn’t feeling great having come down with a heavy cold.

Nevertheless we drove through some beautiful countryside towards snow capped mountains.

Today we hit the tourist trail starting with the hop on, hop off tram ride around the city:

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Then back in time to catch the bus which would take us accross town to the Gondola and the ride up the mountain:

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Once up the top there was a spectacular view to be enjoyed:

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Then another bus ride back into the city at which point we realised that we had forgotten to bring the lunch we had made for today. But this was rectified by a scooter ride back to our apartment while Keiran waited at the library:

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Then after eating lunch on the library roof it was time for another tram ride. This time I disembarked at the art gallery

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while Keiran went to the markets:

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And then a final walk around the city centre and War Memorial before heading back:

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As we had no food and hadn’t eaten since our in flight dinner, our first priority this morning was to find somewhere to eat breakfast, which was successfully managed after a long walk into the city centre, where we eventually found a cafe.

Then it was time to find the right SIM card and phone plan for our mobiles, which proved to be much harder than expected and eventually necessitated a trip to the Spark shop as the Spark website got us nowhere. But in the end thanks to Marie in the shop we now have mobile phones that work in New Zealand.

We thought we would hire an e-scooter to make it easy to get back to our apartment and what should have been a five minute ride took half an hour as Keiran seems to have inherited my infallible sense of direction. In fact the scooter hire cost almost as much as the taxi from the airport last night!

And then it was time to do some sightseeing:

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On our way to the Botanical Gardens:

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After the Botanical Gardens, a long walk back via the supermarket:

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I forgot to mention that Keiran made a little diversion to have day surgery:

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Our journey began with a lift to Port Macquarie Airport to catch the 10:10 Qantas flight to Sydney, amazingly had not been cancelled (unlike our previous booked flight) and was even on time.

But then a long, long wait for our 7:15 pm flight to Auckland, however we amused ourselves by wandering around the duty free store, amazed at what some people spend money on:

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But eventually it was time to depart:

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And eventually we got to bed at about 1:30 am Christchurch time

In this blog we’re going to document some of the experiences and adventures that we come accross on our travels around New Zealand. Where reception allows, we’ll try and updae this blog daily with aditional photos on http://www.facebook.com/ZigZaggingNZ !

Feel free to give our blog a follow and to shoot us any questions or recommendations at: http://m.me/ZigZaggingNZ