The Big Trip 5 – Dunedin and the east coast

16 - 21 Feb 2018

A hard rain’s a-gonna fall

Dunedin was founded by Scottish settlers in 1848 who wanted to create an Edinburgh of the south. And rather appropriately on the day we were there, there was a bagpipe band competition which was entertaining ... and loud! 

We had taken the local bus into town and first port of call was the railway station which is a very ornate building, with mosaic tiles on the walls and floors. 

There was time for a quick visit to the Otago Settlers Museum and lunch before joining a wildlife tour by minibus across the Otago Peninsula. The highspots were the Albatross Centre where we saw albatross chicks and eventually one or two birds in flight and yellow eyed penguins making their way from the sea to their territory. Fur seals and a solitary sea lion also featured along with a huge variety of wading birds during the outward journey.

Before leaving Dunedin next day we visited the Botanical Gardens and took a look at Baldwin Street, supposedly the steepest street in the world. 

The next stop was Oamaru and on the way there we stopped to look at the Moeraki Boulders on the beach. Amazing. And glorious sunshine too.

Oamaru was a one-night halt but we did manage an evening walk into town in the hope of seeing some Little Blue Penguins coming ashore; the tour was unfortunately full. No luck with that one but the town itself was quirky with Victorian buildings now being used as galleries, shops etc.

On the way to Akaroa we had an interesting experience while driving along SH1 at a good pace when a small lorry approaching in the other direction caught our attention by waving a red stop sign out of the driver's window. We slowed down not seeing anything untoward for a minute, then there appeared a low loader carrying a pre-constructed house bearing down on us at a fair rate, accompanied by a couple of pilot vehicles, the first of which told us to pull over onto the grass verge "we need the room, mate". The house-carrying lorry fairly flew through leaving us gob-smacked. We thought that in the UK the road would have been closed for at least part of the day!

Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula south of Christchurch sounded lovely in the guidebook and probably is, in good weather. However, it was a slow, winding, mountainous journey to get here and we fortunately arrived just before Tropical Cyclone Gita did. 

Strong winds and heavy rain were forecast for a 24-hour period. But the site management did not seem unduly concerned so we spent an afternoon in the van, having walked into town in the morning for a coffee and supermarket trip.

Fortunately, we didn't get hit by the worst of the weather, but it was very windy with torrential non-stop rain for 12 hours. Having checked weather and travel websites this morning, we decided it was safe to travel to Hanmer Springs, a change of plan as the road to Kaikoura is closed. On the journey we crossed some very swollen and mud coloured rivers and although it was dry for some of the time, it is raining in Hanmer Springs, but at least we got here safely.