Cathedral Caves to Fortrose

Saturday 26th January
We had planned to move on down the Catlin Coast after our walk yesterday but because we felt so tired it was nice to stay put at the DOC camp for another night. We headed off earlyish this morning though so we could get to the Cathedral Caves, which are only accessible at low tide. We have been out of internet and cellphone range so couldn't check the tide time and on arriving there we found our reckoning from last week's tide was slightly out and we were on the verge of being beaten by the water coming in. They say you need to be there within one hour either side of low tide and we were 1 hour past with a half hour walk through lovely bush and along the beach to get there. But we paid our $5 each and, even with our stiff muscles from yesterday, jogged virtually the whole way and got there in plenty of time. There are two 30 metre high caves which are joined up at the back and are quite impressive but once you have seen them you wouldn't need to visit again. They are described as resonating with the sound of the sea but we couldn't discern this.

Debussy's dirty backside from gravel road tripping

We also had a short walk to the viewpoint at Lake Wilkie and to the tiny Niagara Falls which were named by a surveyor with a sense of humour! We enjoyed some carrot cake and coffee at the Niagara cafe where we could pay to link into their wifi for a quick check of our emails. It's seems so wierd to have to go for days with no cellphone or internet connection.
We revisited Curio Bay where you see the fossilised forest with it's imprints of fallen trees, ferns and tree stumps - quite an amazing sight and his time we were lucky enough to also see 2 yelloweyed penguins close-up in the undergrowth at the edge of the beach.

Some old fossils!

It has been another fabulously hot day at about 26°, so different from when we were last down in these parts when the cold and strong wind we experienced at Slope Point is forever etched in our memories. Fortrose, a tiny wee place at the Southern end of the Catlin's scenic route, has a beautiful free parking/camping area right beside the estuary, called Toetoes Bay, and this is where we are parked right now and for the night. We have enjoyed having a swim even though the weedy stuff under the feet isn't very nice and it has been great to sit and read in our deck chairs with the nice beachy outlook. I think we're not doing this often enough. It's 9.00pm now and still sunny and warm with the extra long days in the south.

Absolute beachfront @ Fortrose

The weather looks settled for the next week and we are looking forward to getting to Stewart Island for a few days which means that we will head to Invercargill tomorrow so we can make some last minute bookings which we can't do from here.

Catlin River Walk et al

It was a freezing night, literally, at the Tawanui DOC camp although we had been cosy in bed. When I looked at the temperature gauge at 7.20 am it was 1.3° outside and 6.5° inside so it must have been well below zero in the night. The top of the bus was coated in a thick layer of ice which was defrosting rapidly down the windscreen in the early morning sun. The camp by the river covers a large area in different sections and there were no other campers visible to us but the one man that we had seen setting up his tent, over the way, the night before was gone by the time we were up - it must have been freezing in a tent!
The Catlin River walk is great with the constant sound of rushing water which was often cascading over tiered layers of rocks making the trail along and above the river, through beech trees and native bush, and over 4 swing bridges very picturesque.

Trish, the swinger (of bridges, that is!)

The walk from the DOC camp up to The Wisp is signed as 5 hours each way and we had planned to do no more than 6 hours in total but we covered the first half in much quicker time than indicated and decided that we could probably do the whole walk in 6 hours so kept going. We were WRONG! The 2nd half took much longer than the first but we had committed in our heads to finding out what The Wisp was (we still don't know!) and kept plugging on until we arrived at the end which was a small open field.

Power nap before the walk back to the campsite!

Leftover chilli @ the Wisp

After a quick lunch by the river it was turn around time and I have to say that we were feeling pretty knackered by the time we were half way back with lots of ups and downs and steps. We had to keep doing lots of quadriceps stretches to stop our thighs totally stiffening up! We dragged our weary hot bodies up the steps of the bus exactly 8 hours after we had left it - a good time if we were in a race but rather a few more kms than we had planned!

After some more stretches we laid back and were entertained by the family with 2 young children + 2 dogs from Balclutha who were already setting up camp near us. One of the dogs took a fancy to me and as soon as I sat down outside it leapt into my lap to make friends. The family were there for just 2 nights and had a caravan which was laden full of stuff as was their covered-in ute. I know when you camp you need all sorts of stuff and it takes a while to set up but it seemed that for a stay of just 2 nights this was extraordinary. 5 hours-of -constant -action later they had the awning up and the usual barbecue, tables, cupboard, 2 big chillybins, kids bikes etc but also 2 vertical tents - one for the toilet and one for the shower in which he placed a moulded white shower tray with a short horizontal drainpipe on it that he dug a little trench for before going to the river for several buckets of water which he poured into a big tub. The first highlight for us was when he put up his infinity gas water heater on a frame beside the shower and brought out another gas bottle to service it. We thought they were at last all done but when we looked over just before going to bed we saw little fairy lights twinkling all around the top edge of the awning as well as solar powered lights beside all the tent pegs. It felt like Christmas! I hope they are all enjoying it today as they will be spending all tomorrow taking it down. We rather appreciate the fact that we can be ready to leave in 5 minutes!

Southern Scenic Coast & Catlins

From St Clair Golf Club where everyone had been so hospitable and where Len had smuggled me into the men's showers - they had 3 showers and the ladies had none! - we headed south down the scenic coastal route. It was a fantastically hot, sunny day so we stopped for a swim and bodysurf at busy little Brighton Beach, a sandy bay between the rocks, unlike the stony English Brighton beach. There were lots of families there enjoying the few days of real summer and the lifeguards were busy trying to keep everyone between the flags and not drifting towards the rocks with the rip.

Brighton Beach - still wet from the swim.

It was a great drive down the coastal route where we ended up continuing on to a gravel road past Taieri Mouth to a free camping spot by a little river called Akatore Creek. It was in the middle of nowhere but occasionally we would see a large truck or farm vehicle cross over the bridge upriver. It was such a quiet, peaceful night compared with our previous nights stop at the Dunedin Railway Station!
The next day (Wednesday) we drove a little inland, stopping for a bus coffee at Lake Waihola which is theoretically freshwater but does have some salt content because it is also tidal, then through Balclutha and on to the Southern Scenic route through the Catlins. This is a wild stretch of coastline stretching from Kaka Point in the North to Fortrose in the South with breathtaking scenery - rain forests, bush walks, stunning coastal scenery and plentiful wildlife such as yellow-eyed penguins, the rare Hectors dolphins, fur seals, elephant seals, sea lions and a unique blend of birdlife.
We stopped for the night at the Kaka Point Camp Ground and, once we had eaten dinner, we drove down to Nugget Point where there is a walk to a lovely stone lighthouse which was built in 1869 and another little walk to a hide above Roaring Bay where you can watch the yelloweyed penguins come ashore at dusk. It was raining by now but we could see the penguins well through Len's slightly inadequate binoculars and also saw some huge elephant seals, sea lions, Hectors dolphins and some Royal Spoonbills on the way to the lighthouse. So it was a productive outing!

Nugget Point lighthouse.

Although it kept raining a little through the night we woke to another beautiful day today. A few threatening rainclouds which appeared when I hung out the washing early soon evaporated and we had a nice 30 minute loop bush walk before leaving camp to drive via the Purakaunui Falls to the isolated DOC camp at Tawanui where we plan to do at least 6 hours of the 10 hour return Catlins River Walk tomorrow.

Purakaunui Falls

The Falls, which we have visited before, were again stunningly beautiful and glistening with the sunlight coming through the native beech and podocarp forest. It cascades 20 metres over 3 main tiers and there were lots of visitors walking in to view them.

Dunedin Part 3 & Karitane

Well the last 3 days have involved lots of golf - Sunday we played on the challenging (and exhausting for me!) Balmacewen course in Dunedin with all it's steep hills and many bunkers. It took us a lot longer to play than normal and if you didn't stay on the fairway you were punished! But the shower in the club rooms afterwards was really nice.

Teeing off on Balmacewen's signature hole

Then it was onto Waikouaiti, up the coast from Dunedin, where there is a very nice long beach dominated at the north end by Cornish Head. You can hear the waves from the 9 hole golf course where we stayed the night. From the bus in the car park the course looked rather flat and boring but when we played it the next day we were pleasantly surprised and I actually found parts of it enjoyable compared with the previous day. There was an old hen that kept running for our golf balls - she must have been broody!

View to Karitane's south beach from the walking track

The highlight for us of the trip up to Waikouaiti was our trip back to Dunedin on the scenic coastal route which runs from the beautiful little beach settlement of Karitane down to Warrington. Karatane must be NZ's best kept secret with it's two surf beaches either side of a river and headland and lovely walking tracks overlooking the views both ways. There is no doubt that it rivals the Mount for scenic beauty and if you want tranquillity there are only about 300 residents.

Karitane beach with Waikouaiti beyond

From Warrington where we did a very long walk down the beach to the river estuary in the hope of seeing seals and penguins for which it is known but I think it was the wrong time of day, we drove over the spectaculary scenic Blueskin Road, high up in the hills to Port Chalmers. We walked through the village and headed back to Dunedin, regretting on the way that we hadn't known about the flat cycle track that hugs the railway line along the edge of the harbour (and sometimes in the harbour) all the way from the Dunedin station to Port Chalmers - probably about 12km and a ride that we will definitely do when we are here again.
After a very long day it was getting late and so we stopped for the night in The Railway station carpark which is permitted although I don't recommend it for light sleepers what with all the traffic and the odd train going by. You can hear the whistling of the lines long before the train actually arrives. We had nice fish and chips at the The Best Cafe close by - it won an award in 2012 for having excellent reviews on Trip Advisor for it's fish (clearly not for the rather old-fashioned decor) - and it is worthy of a visit.

Today,Tuesday, is brilliantly sunny and warm and we have just played golf at the lovely St Clair course with it's spectacular ocean views. It's Ladies Day and we set off just before them - what a lovely, friendly group they are and very interested in what we are doing.

Dunedin Part 2

We decided to stay in town last night (Friday) and the Railway Station carpark could have been an option but because they hold a market there on Saturday mornings any motorhomes would have had to be out by 6.00am which is a trifle early apart from all the disturbing traffic noise from the busy road. So we drove down the student end of town, saw the great new covered stadium and parked in the car park of the Caledonian Sports ground which is quiet at this time of the year - just the odd person training and the security guy driving by every hour or two.

The first "dong" sounds

This morning (Saturday) we went into town in time to see the 22nd annual 243 metre "Timebuster" race around the Octagon where the competitors (the six fastest male and female Otago sprinters, so we couldn't enter) start at 10.00am on the 1st of the 10 clock chimes for the hour and try to complete the circuit before the 10th chime. It's only been done 3 times since they first started the competition and it just wasn't quite done today but they all won cash prizes.

When asked if she'd take me to Auckland, she politely refused!

There was a very festive atmosphere in the Octogon with a great elderly jazz band playing, vintage cars and passengers from the 3 cruise ships which are in port today as well as lots of locals.

The "Scottishness" of Dunedin

The local market at the Railway Station was crowded and wonderful and we stocked up on lots of local fruit including cherries, raspberries, blueberries and apricots as well as veges and some venison patties which we hadn't tried before but, after eating them for dinner, we can recommend them!

We have decided to play golf tomorrow (Sunday) at Balmacewen which in the oldest course in the Southern hemisphere so we drove up here this afternoon and as they are happy for us to stay overnight in their carpark that's where we are at the moment. Before dinner we crossed over the golf course and walked for nearly a couple of hours along the Ross Creek tracks up to the reservoir and down along the Water of Leith which all students are very familiar with. The paths up Ross Creek are great and there were lots of joggers out enjoying them.

Dunedin Part 1

Taieri Lakes

Taieri Lakes golf course beckoned on Wednesday and what a challenge with its 4 lakes, many bunkers, greens in high places and irrigations "slits" through the fairway. It was the 1st 18 hole course we had played on for a while so it was quite different from the mainly flat more simple 9 hole courses. However it was beautifully scenic with a lots of different trees lining the fairways and ducks and their ducklings in the lakes which have now have a higher water level with several of our balls at the bottom! And nice to have a shower afterwards.
Then it was onto Barb and Graemes who were some of our companions when we did the Whanganui River gruelling kayak trip and who live within a stone's throw of lovely St Clair Beach in Dunedin in a very wide street - perfect for Debussy for a couple of nights. Graeme was unfortunately away working but it was great to catch up with Barb who has lots of good "craic", is good company and cooked us our first roast dinner for several months - yum!!
Thursday we visited Tunnel Beach (again) which is has great seascape views, sea-carved sandstone cliffs, rock arches and caves and is named for the long handcarved tunnel that was commissioned by John Cargill for his wife and daughter to access a small private beach in the 1870s. It's a great spot to visit and there was even a sea lion there sunbathing, but as the track, which we think has been reformed recently, is very steep and gravelly you wouldn't want to do it with sore kneees!

Tunnel Beach - spot the sea lion

We were so lucky with the weather - it was raining when we arrived at the beach but by the time we had had a cup of coffee in the bus there was a window of sunshine so we made it there and back before the rain started again and we watched in fascination as our outside temperature gauge dropped from 14° to 6.2° in about 20 minutes! That's the character of this captivating city where I lived for 4 years and where Len has visited
previously. Hence we have already done most of the touristy things and can spend some time exploring the golf courses!

Trish with piles at St Clair beach

We played at Chisholm Park at St Kilda on Friday with it being sunny and just a little windy - great for drying the washing. It's a links course overlooking the blue sea and is difficult as soon as you are off the fairway with long, tough grass immediately enveloping one's ball which I found very hard to get out of.
Afterwards we went for a walk from St Kilda beach to St Clair and then on to Second Beach where we had also walked with Barb in the dark on our 1st evening. Not many surfers about as the waves weren't great but lots of long, wide kelp washing up around Second beach.

Mosgeil, Dunedin

Photographer "in clover"!

The Otago Rail Trail Cycle is now completed and we are back into golf! Monday we played at Middlemarch which apparently only has 43 members and so of course we were the only ones there. We enjoyed the course which was flat meadowland with lots of dandelions, dried grass and some clover. Instead of bunkers, of which there was only one, there were big rocks making some green approaches difficult. The greens were challenging being dry and rather "bumpy" but the wind we had experienced on the cycle trail had abated and the sun came out making it quite hot.

After our 18 holes we drove on to Mosgiel, just east of Dunedin finding the scenery on the way to be awesome. We hadn't travelled this way before and it was amazing to see all the craggy piles of schist over all the land, especially coming out of Middlemarch.

Schist! - we could be on Mars!

.....or is it Arizona?

Once we arrived in Mosgeil it was exciting to visit our first real supermarket for 3 weeks and stock up especially on nice fresh fruit and vegetables. We spent the night at Wingatui Race Course with about 6 other vans. It's an NZMCA POP and costs just $8 a night with toilet facilties and water available. It rained throughout the night but hasn't been so bad today - just light showers occasionally as we were playing golf, this time at the Twelve Oaks course at Mosgeil which is flat and quite parklike but I found a lot of their trees kept getting in my way! But at last we have found some other people playing this game. It was men's day today and they were very welcoming, inviting us to join them in the club rooms afterwards, which we did. We are also staying in their carpark for the night and as I write this all the committee members are arriving for a meeting. Only 15° today but from past experiences I know it's likely to be quite different tomorrow - maybe all 4 seasons in one day!

Central Otago Rail Trail Day 4

A lot of the track ended up on our back!

The rain was a steady downpour between 6.00am and when we were setting off on our bikes just before 9.00 in our full wet weather gear. We decided to cycle from Tiroiti, where we were parked, rather than return to Daisybank because of the weather. The track was very wet, muddy and full of puddles but luck was with us again and the rain stopped after about 10 minutes with the wall to wall cloud starting to disperse ahead of us.
Rabbits abounded everywhere (we must have seen hundreds!) along this picturesque part of the trail in the Upper Taieri Gorge which went over bridges, a viaduct and through another tunnel. We walked down into the gorge where the Chinese goldminers diverted the river by carving out a tunnel in the hillside so it was easier for them to search for gold in the riverbed.

7 km down the road we stopped for early morning tea at Hyde where the sparrow that has been following us everywhere joined us again.

The 2 birds I shared a scone with!

We then cycled onto Middlemarch through a wide valley or Strath with the Rock and Pillar range to our right. People consider this to be one of the less scenic parts of the 150km trail but we enjoyed the ride with the wind again blowing at our backs and generally gentle downhill terrain. They have improved about half of the trail surface on this stretch with the gravel and stones being replaced by a very fine grit - much easier to ride on although you had to watch the cambers.

Arriving back to our camp site after the days ride

There is very little to see in Middlemarch where we arrived about 12.00 after seeing about a dozen other cyclists en route. We returned our comfy hired bikes, visited the Historic Museum and then passed the time with lunch at The Kissing Gate Cafe before being taken by the RailTrail Journeys bus (prebooked) back to Debussy at Tiroiti. Because we had missed doing 5 km of the trail between Daisybank and Tiroiti because of where we parked as well as the drenching weather we hopped on our own bikes and did the return trip there before driving back to Middlemarch. By now it was very hot and we had a headwind on the first leg but again it was nice coming back with the wind behind. It also confirmed that we had done the right thing by hiring bikes which were more comfortable than our own.
We stayed the night at the Holiday Park in Middlemarch which is expensive at $34 a night compared with other campgrounds for what there is here eg the water is not potable and has to be boiled so none of that for us - we'll have to find somewhere else to fill up. However we had a nice shower and I washed all our muddy gear and other clothes which had all dried on the line by the time we went to bed.

Otago Rail Trail Day 3

LENticular clouds

Gilchrist's Store Oturehua

What a fantastic day! At 7.00am this morning (Saturday) the wind was howling and there were splats of rain on our roof vent so we thought we were going to be in for a rough day on the rail trail. However by 9.00 there was a lot of blue sky showing behind the white clouds and the black ones had virtually disappeared. We have noticed very unusual cloud formations in this area. Isolated clouds that look like spaceships or stacks of pancakes and are called lentricular clouds form here when the winds are very strong and we have seen a lot of them above us while doing the trail.

The top!

There were plenty about this morning as we rode uphill to the highest point on the track but fortunately the strong unrelenting wind was pretty much in our favour, coming from the northwest.
Early on the track we diverted to see the remains of the Golden Progress Mine, an historic site which contains Otago's only remaining "poppet head" used for bringing gold-bearing ore to the surface.
Once we were at the highest point on the track we absolutely motored as it was mostly all downhill from there on and we had the wind at our backs. We got up to about 32kph in places but had to be careful on the rough, gravelly track. We didn't see any other bikers for the 1st 1.5 hours but when we did we had to try not to be too smug as we freewheeled past as they were struggling against the wind uphill. At one point I turned my bike around to see what it felt like for them and I could only do about 7kph on a gentle slope! So there were a few walkers pushing their bikes out there today and we are definitely heading in the right direction!
We passed through Wedderburn where there is only a tavern in the distance apart from the old station buildings and stopped for lunch in Ranfurly before heading on to Daisybank where the bus was to pick us up at 3.15pm to return us to Debussy at Oturehua. There is nothing at Daisybank except a carpark and we were running early so we stopped at Waipiata where there is a Pub but nothing else and had a beer each in the sun and wind. We were the only ones there but the Publican said that he had had 69 locals and 9 cyclists in last night. Some of the "locals" travel for 40 km to get there!

Rehydrating!

We were still an hour early for the bus and so we had a bit of a wait. I'm surprised that we are not seeing more people on the track as it is so popular - while we waited one person on his own passed us and then a French couple with 2 young children who were parked next to us last night stopped and chatted. No one else came by at all.
The bus was on time and we had already hidden our bikes in the long grass for picking up once we had collected our own bus. The Publican at Oturehua had sugested that we park about 3 km along the road near the river, where others often camp, rather than stay in the carpark so we have done that although we are the only ones here.
Tomorrow we have our last day of biking, from Daisybank to Middlemarch so lets hope that wind is still kind to us! With our sidetrips today we did about 50 km and it was great - I think we only have 38 km to go!

Otago Rail Trail Day 1

The rain finally eased later on Wednesday afternoon so we hopped on our bikes and did the 5 km loop over 2 bridges from Omakau to Ophir, a tiny old goldmining settlement which has a hotel, an often photograghed post office, former Hospital and a handful of old character cottages.
We parked that night and last night in a free camping area by the river, a 2 minute walk from Omakau "village", where there were several other motorhomes. Yesterday (Thursday) we picked up our hire bikes and set off about 9.00am for Alexandra and Clyde. It was very windy but more of a crosswind for us and as we were mostly going downhill it didn't bother us really until we got to Alexandra. The Plan had been to do the circuit from there to Clyde going along the very scenic 150th anniversary track beside the Clutha River to Clyde and then back to Alex on the rail trail. However when we got down to the river we found the track was closed because of the huge flooding caused by the opening of all the gates at the Clyde dam. The river looked immense and very swift - we were told it would be up to our armpits on the trail so we wouldn't have lasted long on the bikes. So after cycling along a lesser river, eating some trackside cherries, visiting the huge hillside clock which must look amazing when it is lit up at night and having a yummy lunch in the Courthouse cafe in Alexandra we just cycled the rail trail into Clyde.

Straight to the point campsite site, with clear benefits!

The headwind was very strong and although it was just a very gentle straight uphill slope for 9 km we found this to be the hardest slog of the whole day. At least we could stay on the bikes and didn't have to walk most of the day like a lot of others who were on steeper sections. Even the locals were saying what a terrible wind it was.
Generally the countryside at this time of the year is brown and barren with mountains in the distance, interesting rocky outcrops of schist, the occasional pond and maybe a sudden striking irrigated green patch on the dried quilt.

Over the bridge and through the cutting

Clyde Dam - wide open!

We biked up to the dam at Clyde with the spray hitting our faces as soon as we left the village. Close to the dam we were in awe of the huge volume of water violently rolling through all the gates which had been opened to lower the level of Lake Dunstan after all the recent heavy rain. After cycling around the little town we had dinner at the Post Office Bar and Cafe before being picked up by Jan from Shebikeshebikes and dropped off back at Debussy.
Total distance biked 54km (not all on the trail) and no aches or pains!

Otago Rail Trail Day 2

Friday 09:00 - Jan transfered us and the bikes to Oturehua to start the next leg back to Omakau and we were pleased to see blue sky and have a lighter crosswind than yesterday.

Inside Hayes Engineering's factory

Ernest & Hannah's Homestead

Enroute we visited the Hayes Engineering works which was started in 1895 by Ernest Hayes and is world famous for his design and manufacture of agricultural implements, particularly for his invention of wire strainers and windmills. The company has been working out of a factory in Christchurch since 1952.
Soon after leaving Hayes Engineering we passed by the Idaburn Dam which can freeze over in winter for iceskating and curling - the dam looks much smaller than the pictures we have seen of it complete with iceskaters and curlers! Close by is the large camping site for the Brass Monkey Motorbikers annual event. Bikers from all over NZ gather here in Midwinter June when temperatures are below zero, hence the name.

Safely through the long dark tunnel!

More info to try to remember!

The section of the trail between there and Lauder was especially scenic with bridges, tunnels and gorges. We were looking out for the NZ falcon which can be found in the Poolburn Gorge as they are the only remaining bird of prey peculiar to NZ but unfortunately none turned up!
We had a nice rest and lunch at the Stationside cafe at Lauder before continuing back to Omakau where we collected our own bikes which had been serviced for us in the shebikeshebikes workshop, did a big load of washing and had showers for a small fee in the campground and then drove back to Oturehua where the friendly Publican has insisted we park on the grass beside his hotel instead of in the dusty truckstop carpark!
Total distance ridden today was a mere 31 km.

Palmerston, Naseby & Omakau

It's now Wednesday and we have just had a very windy, rocky night in the camping ground at Omakau and there is a severe rain warning out so we are pleased not to be biking the rail trail yet even though I'm getting a little frustrated waiting for the weather to settle. We have just made the decision to start our 4 days cycling tomorrow whatever as there looks to be a little window before lots of rain again next week.

Trish's fruity rum balls - mmmm!

We are going to hire comfy bikes from shebikeshebikes and they will arrange the transport we need to get back to Debussy each day. Great company to deal with and they had it all sorted in no time.
To regress, from Katiki beach where there was a vast colony of ladybirds - 10 per square inch in the grass and always several on our bodies (4 days later and we are still finding them in the bus!) we passed through tiny Palmerston which has two 4 Square grocery shops close to each other, as does Ranfurly, and stopped to play golf at the Ardleigh Course -interesting, challenging and hilly. We stayed there the night and were joined by 2 other motorhomes as it is listed as a POP in our NZMCA book.
From there we travelled on to Ranfurly and played another round of golf ( and stayed) at their Maniatoto Course which was flat and very exposed to the strong winds on part of the course.
Tuesday was a diverse day - we drove North to the little settlement of Naseby, an attractive old gold-mining village built in the 1860s and walking through the streets you almost felt you were back in that time. It is 2002 feet above sea level and only has a permanent population of 100 but is well-known in NZ for its indoor curling rink - the only rink in the Southern Hemisphere used exclusively for curling. So of course we had to have a go! We loved it and found it to be very like bowls but the stones are heavier at 20kg and you are playing on ice. You don't lift the stones however, just slide them - I found it easier to use a pole to push them but had to be careful not to use too much power.

Is it the perfect weight & direction?

After our enjoyable game on the curling rink we stripped off most of the layers of clothing we had needed to don and drove up the gravelly Dansey Pass road as far as the beautiful old Dansey Pass Hotel which was well worth the trip. It is a elongated oasis right on the road edge in the middle of nowhere and was originally built in 1863 for the local gold-diggers - on the way there we had passed a family from a motorhome gold-panning in the river. They have kept the character of the hotel with refurbishments over the years and although dark inside with all the stained wood and big low brown sofas it has a very welcoming comfortable feel, accentuated by the huge open fireplace with its schist hearth and by the patron who was on the piano when we entered.

Cheers!

It is known to have good food but unfortunately we were too early for dinner so instead we enjoyed a really late lunch of delicious pumpkin soup, chicken nibbles and spicy wedges.
Then we headed back down the road and onto Omakau, which is on the path of the cycle route, stopping for the night in the Recreation Reserve which has low cost camp facilities. So tomorrow we will bike from here to Alexandra and Clyde from where the cycle company will return us to Debussy.

Fleurs, Moeraki & Katiki beach

Well the last 2 days have flown and we seem to have done quite a lot. We left Oamaru with a bagful of the most delicious cherries I have ever had which had just been picked and some nice local tomatoes.
We took the coastal route down to Moeraki stopping on the way of course to see the Moeraki Boulders again. We did notice a difference from 8 years ago in that a couple of the boulders which previously were still embedded in the bank are now lying free on the sand. The process through which they are formed is quite amazing and a little similar to how a pearl forms in an oyster shell.

Moeraki boulders
We had been told by several people that we must go to Fleur's restaurant at Moeraki so we drove down the rough road to the jetty just taking potluck to see if we could get in for dinner later on. Like everywhere at the moment with it being school holidays it was busy even at 4.30pm but they could fit us in at 5.00pm and no later, which we accepted, but how we wished that we hadn't just had that icecream at the Boulder Cafe!

We enjoyed our meals with Len having fresh groper with caper and lime sauce and me scallops with smoked bacon and mushrooms but to my mind it wasn't extraordinary but it was simple food cooked well. Dessert was creme brulee and fresh fruits for me and Len had Aunty Maries Christmas pudding which again were nice. We loved the character of the wooden building and all the little knicknacks within. We actually ate at Fleurs "desk" and she joined us for a while in between chatting to other diners and signing her books of which I did buy a copy of her autobiography - so put your hand up if you want a read when we get home!
She told us that sometimes she has difficulty with new chefs who "want to put all sorts of sh*t on top of the food" which goes against her ethos of simple cooking.

2 blondes - Fleur signing her book

Halfway through the meal I was surprised to see John and Jeannette, a couple we played golf with occasionally at Ohope, come in with friends so we were able to have a quick catch-up with them.
From the restaurant it was only about 6 km inland to a DOC camp up Trotters Gorge so we headed there for the night - a nice little campground with real flush toilets in a bush setting by a stream and from where, the next morning, we could walk along a very muddy track to some caves and then further on to do a high loop track - less than 1.5 hours altogether.
We chatted to some nice young people who were camping - one of the girls who was originally from New York but has lived in Sydney for the past 8 years, working as an architect, left Len a couple of bottles of beer as she was flying home that afternoon.

That day (Saturday) started off a scorcher - it felt like it was already about 30° at 10.00am so we headed back to the coast stopping off the road by Katiki Beach where self contained vehicles are allowed to camp. It's a beautiful spot with the waves on our doorstep. We have enjoyed the sun and beachwalking ("shopping" for shells) and listening to the roar of the sea through the night.

Sun block time!

We're glad we made the most of the beach yesterday as today (Sunday) it is grey overhead and coolish but we are enjoying watching the birds diving for fish as we drink our coffee and before we head down the coast to Palmerston and then inland towards Naseby.

Oamaru

Wednesday morning, up with the lark (ish) and on with filling, emptying, tidying and general checks prior to hitting the road. Front nearside tyre had been looking like it needed some air for the last couple of days. Not a straightforward job on Debussy as the wheel trims have to be unbolted to get to the valves!
Drove into Kurow to the only garage that was open, but the mechanic was out on a job and the pump attendant didn't know when he'd be back. We parked up on the street and waited, and waited and waited!! I went for another look at the wheel hoping for a miracle to happen when a guy walking past with his family started a conversation with me about all things tyres and wheels! Turns out he's a tyre fitter (a miracle!). He had a look, thought I should be able to get at the valve to put some air in and told us who to see in Oamaru to repair the puncture.
Sure enough, I managed to pump it up, then raced off to Oamaru hoping it would hold out for 65km, which it did.
Most of Oamaru was still closed so had to wait another day (staying at a POP just north of town) before the puncture was repaired. The inner tube burst when the mechanic was looking for the leak, so I think we were lucky not to have had it happen while driving!
After lunch and fitting a new radio antenna we drove to the North Otago golf course just out of town and had a round on their hilly and interesting course, which has a footbridge over the road to the 13th to 16th holes. Distant thunder was coming closer and the rain started on the 16th so the last 3 holes were played at a running pace to try to get off the course before being struck by lightening! Stayed overnight in their car park and since the mens changerooms had showers, I enjoyed a higher pressure wash than normal.

The lull after the drenching thunderstorm

Today, after having Debussy's nipples greased, we walked around the historical centre of Oamaru. Some impressive Victorian architecture in what was a thriving wool, grain and meat exporting port; even exporting frozen meats to the UK in the 1870's. The old mills are now being used as art galleries and craft workshops.

 The town went into a major decline after a sharp drop in commodity prices and it is easy to see signs of both the "boom" and "bust" periods of its history. We also enjoyed walking through the pretty town gardens. There was even a kids playground with a digger having levers and a front scoop you could operate. Wish they'd been around when I was a kid! Also wish we'd remembered the camera so I could have taken a shot of Trish playing on it! -L

Kurow

New Years Day today and I was up early for a shower with the 10,000 dead moths everywhere through the amenity block - covering the floor, shower, basins and still clinging to the shower curtain although inert! I'm not sure which is the worst - the dead moths here or all the dead mozzies that were at our Tekapo camp. At least they are dead and don't bite!
We ended up with a quiet New Years Eve - bagpipes were played in the campground at 9.00pm and there were a couple of girls dancing the Highland fling which was good as it brought everyone out of their caves.
They did Auld Lang Syne in the communal lodge at midnight and I could hear it but we had just succumbed to bed and Len was already asleep! We hadn't had much sleep the night before with some young people beside us in tents coming home from the Pub between midnight and 3.00am and then they were awake, talking and laughing again at 6.00am! We were rather pleased that they packed up and left yesterday before New Years Eve even though they were nice people. We are showing our age!
Yesterday we played golf on the Kurow Course ( Kurow is Ritchie McCaws home ground - I think he went to primary school here and played in the Kurow under 13's).
The course was flat, dry and quiet and we enjoyed being out as we haven't played much golf in the last couple of weeks. An easy course so we were both happy with our scores.
We were intending to head on to Oamaru today but there are galeforce winds and we decided it was wise to stay put for another day. We have had a very relaxing time doing a "crossword" jigsaw puzzle given to us by Gladys and Earle.
The only exercise we have had today was to revisit the plum tree by the river which is covered in tiny yellowy-green plums which didn't make us ill when we ate them on Sunday so we now have a good bagful!

The end of a hard days "work"

A plum job for a good picker!

There are more caravans arriving here as I write this as there has been a lot of rain in the alps - the Milford track has closed and the rivers are rising so people have had to leave some of the camping areas along the rivers and lakes.
There may be heavy rain here tonight but the wind should die down and we will head to Oamaru tomorrow.