Turned out to be nowhere near enough time. We needed a week at least. Then we headed straight to the centre of town to the visitor centre where much free information was on hand. A number of tours and visits can also be booked here. The Town Hall loos are the plushest we have ever visited. The carpeted foyer was more like the lobby of an up market hotel. Some elderly ladies seem to be using it as a place to chat. Various dispensing machines: Nite Rider condoms cost $1 each. You have to buy 2 at a time. (Main and backup).
Dunedin was a very pleasant surprise; helped by having some good weather (fine, about 20degC). For such a small city (pop 115,000) it has wealth of things on offer for tourists particularly if you're into museums, stately homes and wild life parks. Dunedin was set up by some Scots in 1847. It was originally intended to be 'New Edinburgh' but the older version 'Dun Edin' won out. Many Scottish influences. We even noticed some of the older residents spoke with a Scottish accent.
Otago Museum:
We spent the first afternoon at the Otago museum which among many other things has a big area of Polynesian displays, (largest in the world someone claimed), and a large room full of ship builders' models.
Found a couple of good second-hand bookshops to browse through.
Olveston:
Our next visit was the stately home 'Olveston', which was built in 1906 and kept completely unaltered until 1966 when it and the priceless collection of antiques and art was given to the state. Olveston was a model of modernity in 1906, being fully wired for electric light, ducted air for heating, extensive room signalling system and 6 telephones, doubling as intercoms. (All of this original gear is still in place.)
That evening we were craving for some Italian food again. Found four such restaurants in the phone book. Chose the Firenze. Turned out to be one of the best Italian meals we had enjoyed for some time. Three course meal cost $30 each. Waiter and chef chat to the patrons about anything when they get a break. Not a place for the physically handicapped: there are about 50 steps up to the front door
Otago Peninsular:
The next day with even better weather, we headed out for a tour of the Otago Peninsular. Much to see out here. Took the coast road out and mountain road back.
Glenfalloch Gardens
These are extensive English style gardens with a restaurant, reception centre and craft shops.
Wildlife:
A number of colonies of Albatross, fur seals, penguins and misc other sea birds. Most of these are on organised visits.
Fort Taiaroa:
The whole end of the peninsular has been a fortress with many large guns installed from about 1885. 'The Russians were Coming'. One of the guns is the Armstrong 'disappearing gun', installed in 1886 and now completely restored to working order ('The only one left in the world and working'). It's an ingenious mechanism which pops the barrel above ground for firing and bounces back underground with the recoil. All the support facilities in place. Worth a visit.
Larnach Castle:
At the top of the high road back is this Victorian example of supreme bad taste in architecture. Built from 1871 in wedding cake style with battlements, it is worth seeing for its opulence in such a remote part of the world (then). Though the art & antiques are minimal compared to Olveston, it has extensive wood carving on much of the furniture, walls and ceilings. (Larnach had a resident wood carver for 12 years.) The 360deg view from the top of the tower is worth the climb up the narrow spiral stairs. Many outer buildings and gardens. You can actually stay here for about $70 per night.
Dunedin Railway Station:
Arrived back in town to visit this Edwardian building (1907) which is a startling sight: sort of a very wide Larnach Castle. Rather ornate, and even more ornate main foyer of tiles and stained glass windows. The outside is looking a bit shabby at present. It's a working station, not a museum.
Early settlers museum (and much more):
Unfortunately it closed at 4pm, so we missed it. From brochures it looked very interesting. We also missed out on the art gallery, botanical gardens, Otago Uni, 'The World's steepest Street', the Taieri Gorge railway, and harbour cruises. Having suffered cathedral burn-out in Europe we only briefly looked in St Paul's. If you ever wanted to know how the best things in life are produced there are also visits to a chocolate factory, brewery and whiskey distillery
That evening we acted on a recommendation to try the Unique Cuisine restaurant. They have an interesting menu which included Haggis, Escargots, Ceviche plus the usual lamb, venison and fish dishes. They have no less that 42 food awards all over the walls. (Caution: most NZ restaurants seem to have a few awards just for existing; but with 42 they must have something going for them.) We weren't disappointed. The meal cost us about $34 each.
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Planned to drive with minimal stops expecting to take about 5 hours. Good weather all of the way.
Moeraki Boulders:
This was our first stop about 60Km north of Dunedin. The Moeraki boulders are a collection of about 50 large spherical stones (up to 2.2m/7' diameter) lying on the beach. A strange sight. I was so moved by these round objects that I bought the book - and it sez in here (reading) that they are 'concretions' formed around small shell fossils in sedimentary mud about 60mill years ago. There are probably thousands of them, with just 50 being exposed by wave erosion for all of us to see. (They just roll down onto the beach and eventually themselves erode away.)
My commercial instincts thought about 'mining' the rest of these little monsters and selling them to museums and well heeled rock collectors. Why wait another 10mill years to see the rest of the buried boulders? We could 'save' them from being eroded by the waves.
First Moa sighting:
Somewhere further along the road we passed a giant Moa cut out of a hedge (about 10m/30') high and complete with egg. It seemed to be in someone's front garden.
Passed through the town of Oamaru and city of Timaru. Unfortunately time did not allow us to stop and explore. After Timaru we were back on a familiar road with the wide rivers and bridges.
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Arrived at 3.30pm after about 375Km. Booked back into the Admiral motel for the night. Wandered into the city centre - fairly busy from 4.00pm. Found the information centre. Like Dunedin, too much to do/see in such a short time. Discovered that Chch has about 50 antique shops. Found about 10 of them just walking the shopping streets. Cheaper than Perth. Needed a shipping container and $ to match. Had neither, but nice just looking. Went to the movies after a quick look in at the Dux De Lux tavern/restaurant complex. The IN place to be - it was packed. Live music.
Next day:
This was to be our last day with me heading back to Perth and Joan off back to Dunedin for a week. The weather was sunny in the morning so we found some more antique shops, and spent much time at the Arts Centre where there were indoor and outdoor markets, buskers and invited musos. International fast-food market was also here, but we tried the vegetarian restaurant at the Dux De Lux. Huge plate full for about $9. Rain and wind started. Headed back to motel to pack for the trip back to Perth at 4.00pm
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Christchurch to Perth (Normally 8 hours)
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Just as we arrived at the airport it was announced that our flight had been cancelled. The baggage handlers at Sydney airport went on a 48-hour strike. All flights cancelled. I (and 50,000 others world-wide) had nowhere to go. Most of the passengers here happened to be Aussies returning to the start of the school year (many kids). Some mild panic amongst the international passengers who would miss connecting flights. Difficult for those with language problems.
Air New Zealand kept us informed (they handle Qantas here) and within an hour had organised buses and hotels for about 300 of us. 70 of us were assigned the Quality Hotel (QH). FAQ (Fair Average Quality) **** tourist hotel surrounded by Japanese restaurants. I got the last room which was designed for physically disabled. Some interesting fittings. This time the Park Royal was across the road. That evening, most of us hung about the foyer hoping to hear of a breakthrough in the strike negotiations. Nothing. Joan headed back to the Admiral Motel. I stayed at the QH, just in case some news came through.
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Next day (Sunday) the early report from Qantas indicated that we were 'stuck' for at least another day. Joan had left for Dunedin by train.
As it was superb weather I headed back to the Arts Centre and visited the Canterbury museum. More Moas, some very good early Maori scenes and great section on Antarctic exploration. Chch is the NZ Antarctic centre and is also used by the US as their staging post. (There is also a large Antarctic display next to the airport. I missed it due to the strike.)
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Blues, BBQ and Beer Festival
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That afternoon I stumbled on this large outdoor show (could hardly miss it really) in Hagley Park. A three hour concert had just started. Entrance was by purchasing a glass beer mug and 'not quite legal tender' money. (Maybe this was to get around laws against selling beer on Sunday.)
My image of Chch as a cultural centre dropped slightly but it was a great afternoon with about 20,000 others hoeing into BBQed everything (incl. BBQ 'Moa') and the wares of 23 breweries. The star turn at the 'blues' concert was Maori singer Annie Crummer and her band. What a voice she had. Most of the 20,000 sat, listened, cheered.
That evening I teamed up with fellow refugees and found the Oxford St Cafe and Bar. Very popular. Had to queue. Superb buffet for $10.
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Trip home (Monday and Tuesday)
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Next morning (Monday) we camped in the QH foyer and waited. Boredom relieved when a young Japanese couple arrived in full wedding outfits from their wedding. Posed for some photos by our mob. (Apparently cheaper to have wedding/honeymoon in NZ than at home.) Word finally came through that Air New Zealand would put on a special jumbo for a trip to Sydney that afternoon. We got to Sydney without incident (Air NZ very good.)
Sydney airport still in chaos. No flights to Perth. Wait-listed. Missed out. Pissed off. Joined the Qantas refugee queue. Booked me in at the Airport Hilton - not a bad refugee centre. Arrived just as 600 people turned up dressed for their conference opening cocktail party. Our evening meal (and breakfast) also arranged by Qantas. Room had a King sized bed. What a waste. I was here on my own.
Headlines in the Sydney Morning Herald: 'Sydney Rowing Club Refuses Female Members'. I knew I was back in Australia.
Tuesday:
Finally got back to Perth via Melbourne on local Ansett flights, to heat wave conditions, bush fires and huge floods up north. i.e. normal.
What had I missed:
The final cricket test match (Aust v. W. Indies). Just as well. We lost.
Monday was Australia Day holiday. I missed the evening fireworks show. (About 350,000 turned out, so I also missed the massive traffic jams after.)
Tuesday: A whole day of work. Oh dear.
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New Zealand South Island Trip (Part 3)
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(Flamethrower section)
As instant superficial experts we noticed a number of differences that were unexpected, but mostly made the trip more enjoyable.
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Differences (Aust vs New Zealand)
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It's no wonder most northern hemisphere visitors consider NZ and Australia to be the same country. We have almost identical European origins, and the original inhabitants didn't particularly want us. It's generally only those that live in this part of the world that can spot the differences.
These little differences vary as much between Australian states as between NZ and Australia. (Accent excepted!) (With large numbers of NZers in Australia, we've almost become used to the accent.) From survey results published while we were in NZ, it seems that most NZers still want to retain strong links with British royalty. It's much less in Australia.
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