9th December 2009 When we first decided to come to New Zealand we thought a campervan would be the ideal way to tour the place and see loads of things. However, due to the cost of hiring at this time of year (peak) and availability issues, instead of a van for the entire 5 weeks on the south island, we ended up with one for just two and a half weeks. How lucky we were…. ...
7th December 2009 After the relative and glorious wilderness of the Catlins we were looking forward to getting back to civilisation in the shape of the South Island’s second largest city, Dunedin. On our arrival mid-morning we discovered a delightful, compact town centre shaped as a octagon with some wonderfully preserved old buildings. We didn’t really know where to start so we headed for the city’s I-Site where we were able to book a one hour historical walking tour of the city. This seemed like the best and quickest way for us to get our bearings, while learning about the grand old sites surrounding us. ...
8th December 2009 The weather closed in again this morning, so we spent it drinking hot drinks and reading in the van at the campsite. Not very exciting, but a pleasant enough morning. This afternoon we caught the bus into town. I always find it very interesting to take buses in cities, since they never take the direct route into the centre, but go around the houses, so you get to see a little bit more of suburbia. For the first time in New Zealand, we saw rows of terraced houses - probably due to the Scottish influence and we also went past the huge University of Otago, New Zealand’s oldest university. ...