So we have made it right down the very south but before I get into what we have we been up to for the last couple of days I will address the few comments that I have been receiving of late.
After a conversation with my parent over skype they noted that my spelling has been pretty poor thus far, which sadly I will confess without the aid of spell check this may continue, so I apologise in advance for any typos. Secondly the beard did not go down too well, and to be honest it is getting on my nerves - so mum I dedicate tonight's shave to you. To my beard RIP and see you in a couple of weeks!
Finally apparently for a blog I am getting into too much detail so going forward I will cut it down, but like most of my promises they will start on Monday.
So we started off from Hamner Springs, where I went for another run, which is now beginning to get a bit of a habit. The night before we went to another thermal spa and my skin is feeling really good at the moment (yeah right - personally they have clearly just heated up some water to a bit more than the typical bath tub temperature and then make money from it!).
We trucked down during the day which took us through Christchurch, which I thought would be like a ghost town, however it seems to be getting on with things, although the CBD is still a mess and is closed. Apparently they are still getting aftershock of around 5 on the richter scale which to me sounds pretty strong but does not seem to be worrying the locals, unlike the Wellywood sign which is still making headlines, get over it I say!
Anyway ended up in Dunedin, which as I pointed out reminded me a bit of Scotland when I heard it and of course when I read the numerous guides that we have acquired from all the information sites it is the Edinburgh of Nz. That I think was a little understated on the basis that I reckon it is more Scottish than Scotland itself. Bagpipes everywhere, grey buildings, cold weather, sweeping hills and a castle thrown in for good measure. I actually really like the city, not only because there was actually something to do and that the city did not claim to be "funky" or different to what it actually is, but it had a decent feel to it, not too overrun by students, people were friendly etc.
Anyway as it was the weekend we thought we would head out and sample the local establishments, so we were directed to a local pub (or so we thought), for a couple ales, or Speights as that is all you can get in these parts. So when we arrived the place was a bit of a working men's club, not bad to be in if you are an overweight former bearded man, but not when you a size 6 (brownie points please Helen) young lady (more please)! Anyway thankfully they had a rugby game on so everyone's attention was on that and we could all just get on with drinking, shouting at the TV at how much better we could all play rugby and eat some food. One good thing though was that we found out that the local rugby team, the Highlanders, were playing in town on Saturday so keen to sample the local sport we promptly booked a ticket.
Saturday saw Helen decide late that she wanted to do some washing, so we did not get out into town until 11.30am, and continuing the theme we decided to head over to the Spieght brewery for one of their tours. This was actually a very good tour which was made even better by the skin full of beer on offer at the end. I have never refused a free beer before that day but sadly I had to say no, it just felt wrong! After a trip to the railway station, a pretty massive station with no trains passing through other than the tourist train which did not move for the time we were there, a visit to the second hand book shop which claimed to be the top ten in the world - how the hell they worked that out I don't know, but Helen reckoned that it was rubbish (she reads and collects books so I will take her word on that), we ended up killing time in the cinema before the rugby started. Like every trip to the cinema it always starts with a "haven't been to the cinema for ages", something which I think we would all say if we went there last week. We ended up watching hangover 2, which if you liked the first you would like the second, very funny!
After eating a ton of popcorn and some sweets we headed over to the game which was around a 20min walk out of town. It was blooming freezing, I was even feeling the cold, but like a man I kept off my gloves and a hat, showing a brave face to Helen (well I thought it was her, not too sure with the 6 layers she had on ). When we got to the ground, it was full on Scotland, bagpipes playing of course and then a rendition of the national anthem, sorry Scottish national anthem, whilst the players came out. The game was entertaining, although the local team lost, which was obviously upsetting for the locals. We both froze to death, even the locals had gloves, hats and the jacket of choice a Katmandu puffer jacket. After a long walk back to the campsite, a swing by pizza hut to hug on the way home to keep us warm, out second Saturday was over.
Today saw us visit what is apparently the steepest street in the world, Baldwin street, which we saw some crazy people in a car take a run up to get to the top, a visit to the castle and some breakfast over looking the beach watching some poor surfers get pulverised on some strong swell.
We decided to take the route to Invercagill through the Catlins region, which is a coastal route along the heritage trail. It was quite enjoyable and sunny, although a bit windy, which had an obvious impact on the trees as they had all grown lopsided, making some interesting photo opportunities. So after numerous stop off's at the various bays, avoiding cow's walking in the middle of the road, walking to the southern most point in Nz, where Helen lost the abiltiy to walk, falling over numerous times providing much amusement for me (she was all-right otherwise I would have been concerned!) we have ended up in the Top-10 (yes always the go-to campervan site) in Invercagill. Not much we are going to see here, off to camp around Milford Sounds tomorrow, one of the things we are both looking forward to.
Anyway best go, getting in trouble from Helen, she wants me to shorten the blog aswell!
Steve & Helen
Observation of the last 2 day's:
1. The Southern man drinks his beer in his left hand so he can greet his mates and punch other men (according to the man on the beer tour)
2. Cow's walk on the road down South
