We went from Arrowtown to Te Anua via Invercargill (it only ads about 3.5 hours to the journey!). We actually drove through Invercargill (best not to stop!) and onto Bluff and Stirling Point, which is the southern most point of the highways. So we have been now been to the furthest north and south points (at least on the highways) of the country. We decided to have lunch at the nearby cafe, where we met the most laid back cat in the country. Very friendly, and seemed permanently half asleep. His name was Fats. Which is a little unfair, he genuinely is big boned! He made us feel very much at home when he decided to join the diners in their lunch by bringing in a half eaten rabbit to play with in the middle of the cafe!
From Te Anau we did a day trip to Doubtful Sound. It may sound like something Andy is responsible for but is really an amazing place. We went on a not cheap but totally worth it cruise/bus/cruise out then cruise/bus/cruise back taking in amazing scenery, dolphins, seals, sand flies and a hydro power station far underground just for good measure. The weather god decided to make up for our previous rain-soaked cancellations by giving us clear blue sky and a fabulous day.
Our next stop was Dunedin. Very hilly, very windy - can't imagine what made them decide to name it after Edinburgh ;o) That said, the gradient of the hills makes Edinburgh seem positively flat. They did a great job with the architecture. For a relatively young city, it did a very good job at looking old - meant in the nicest way! The train station was fabulous (although using Aberdeen granite to build the pillars was perhaps taking Scottish pride a little far!), making us think that they perhaps didn't know Edinburgh so well after all..... There is a statue of Rabbie Burns in the city centre, and we found a pub that not only served decent (real) ale, but had a great range of whiskies, including an Edradour! It was all a bit surreal. We took a tour of the Speights brewery whilst we were there - quite a cool place.
Next and final stop was Christchurch for two nights. We stayed at a hotel there. Like a real hotel with an en-suite, mini fridge and everything! Christchurch didn't show too much damage from the recent earthquake; some buildings were being held up by scaffolding, a few were pretty much demolished, but it was hard to believe it had happened so recently.
We finally, on our 2nd last night, found a pub serving real ale - and we mean real, real ale! Drawn from a proper hand pump! We were very happy.
The next day we both went for a run in the nearby botanic gardens then spent the day wandering around the city, including a visit to the aquarium which also housed a kiwi house, so we finally saw a kiwi (of the feathered variety). Well, sort of, she chose to spend that time digging around in the darkest corner, but it was better than nothing.
Then to finish our trip with another bizarre meeting, we walked out of a restaurant after having some food and Chris looked up to see a German guy who had been staying in the same hostel as us in Motueka (near Abel Tasman, after Christmas) standing nearby. Considering we had been driving around the country and he had been cycling (yes, really!), we had really not expected to see him of all people. But it was a nice surprise, as he is a really nice bloke. He also seemed to have lost as much weight in the last two weeks as we had put on - perhaps there is something to be said for cycling round the country rather than driving!
And so we had to say goodbye to New Zealand. It has been far too short and we have had a fantastic time, meeting lots of great people along the way.
Our 1.5 hour stop in Dubai was a tad tight for time. Although we landed on time, it took almost half an hour to finally get off the plane, and by the time we had speed-walked right around the airport (of course, our gate was in the 2nd last section, so took as long as possible to get to) our flight was already on the final call, leaving us hot, sweaty and a bit stressed, but at least we made it, and better that than the 9 hour delay on the way out! A journey lasting over 30 hours does take it's toll though and we are still recovering.
So that's it, the major travelling over and back in sunny Scotland and back to our house after six months of travelling and fun. If only we were doing something like driving to the French Alps in a few days... oh wait a minute...
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