Thursday 27th. Feb.

Drive to Dunedin.

From Mount Cook dry arid gravelly plains, over the very large canal carrying the sky blue water from Lake Pukaki to the two Hydro Power Stations at Twizel. This all then goes into Lake Benmore which is also filled by river from Lake Tekapi and another power station. I was told that the first two very large lakes which are fed by the snows and rains of the eastern side of the Southern Alps provide a third of NZ’s Electricity: it is all very impressive. There are more dams downstream, and as you drive downriver on the way to Lake Aviemore the topography becomes more hilly and scrubby; there are quite large areas with nothing but Dogrose and a few Hawthorn: more British Imports : Follow Up Sometime.

 

Lake Aviemore Dam

As you move further downriver to the sea at Oamaru it remains very Scottish scenery, but where there is wider flatlands there is more animal agriculture: cattle where irrigated otherwise sheep.

From Oamaru down the coast to a lunch stop at the world famous Moeraki Boulders. Unfortunately my timing coincided with high tide so I didn’t see them at their best, but still very interesting. These are spherical and between 1½ and 2 metres in diameter (there used to be some very much smaller ones but anything liftable was lifted as souvenirs years ago) and are an accumulation of calcium carbonate and other minerals, just like limescale in your pipes in hardwater areas.

 

From there down to Dunedin, where the scenery gets even more hilly, green and Scottish with large planted forests. The large area around Dunedin is more Scottish than Scotland.

Semi trusty SatNav helped me find the dead centre of Dunedin where unbelievably I immediately found a parking space, but had to ask a local to change a note to coins for the metre (I must learn to keep a supply in the car as I do in UK) Went to find the iSite to enquire about accommodation, but I hadn’t liked the hustle and bustle of all the traffic (there wasn’t much in Christchurch because there is no longer much Christchurch) so decided to head back out into the country on a bit of my next day’s itinerary, but I needed to know if there would be accommodation available in what is a small rural town. Ranfurly does boast a motel and backpackers, but the i-SITE could only find me a room in the old Art-Deco hotel. Suited my purpose and had a couple of pints with the typical pub food on offer; slept like a log and late up: unusual for me.