Our last day in New Zealand and therefore the last day of the blog until we hit the road again. Deb and her 2 Aunts went off to an Art Show at ‘The Packing Shed’, a function venue and cafe just out of town. Ross and I decided to skip the art show for a bit and take a look around the area. The weather had turned inclement overnight resulting in some fresh snow on the surrounding hills. The wind made drone flying a little outside of my risk appetite. We started at the the Clyde Dam… and hydro power station.
The Clyde Dam creates Lake Dunstan which provides water sport and swimming facilities at Clyde and further upstream at Cromwell. The lake covers an area of 26 sq kilometres and the water is used primarily for power generation but also provides irrigation for the local orchards.
More recently dairy farming has been introduced to the area and it consumes large amounts of water from the dam. We drove up one of the surrounding hills to get a view for the local farms, including one owned by the actor, Sam Niell.
Following the completion of our sightseeing tour, we headed to the ‘Packing Shed’ to find the female contingent, however by the time we arrived, they were leaving. Uncle Ian had just arrived as well, so we stopped to have coffee with him. The Packing Shed is a beautiful venue and the owners also own the Court House cafe in Alexandra. As well as the two cafes they also provide food to some of the cruise ships that visit Milford Sound… very busy people!
We then all went to Ian and Kathi’s house for a lunch of Jimmy’s Pies, which have been made to the same family recipe for the last 50 years in Roxburgh. I am told they are somewhat of a kiwi icon.
After lunch we packed up and hit the road to drive to Mosgiel, about 20 kms out of Dunedin and the location of the Dunedin airport, presumably because it was the only place anywhere near Dunedin that was flat. We took the route via Ranfurly and Middlemarch rather than the main highway and it is much quieter.
As we got closer to Mosgiel, the weather closed in and we drove through some rain and noted that the outside temperature had dropped to 8 degrees in some places. By the time we reached Mosgiel it was a balmy 14 degrees.
We walked down the road for our last meal of the trip to the Taeri Hotel where I took the opportunity to have a last Venison meal… as it is not as readily available at home.
We will be up early in the morning to fly home and head back to work, so this is the final instalment. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time and now is the part where we offer our usual favourite things and improvement opportunities.
Rob’s favourite things
- Drive to Glenorchy
- Going to Milford Sound again (after 18 Years)
- Our meal in Christchurch
Deb’s favourite things
- The Queen Charlotte Drive and lunch in Havelock
- Visiting Hanmer Springs after many years since her only other visit
- Catching up with family
Improvement opportunities:
- Organise the Inter-Island ferry earlier in the year to get better times for the journey.
- Broken up some of the bigger driving days
- If visiting Milford Sound stay 2 nights in Te Anau.
Thank you to everyone who’s followed our holiday, I’ve enjoyed having you on the trip with us. Our next trip will probably be around August or September when we plan to head to Asia. The itinerary is yet to be confirmed, but hoping it will include Hong Kong, Taipei and Seoul.
Until then … Thank you and good night!
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 