Dunedin (for Jan. 25)
We had a good experience at the Internet place last night. They had about 30 computers and a couple of laptop stations at $5 per hour. When we found the place earlier in the day, it was pretty full. But when we went back about 9:30 PM it was packed. I don’t think there was an empty seat in the house except the laptop ports – lucky for us. And our uploads went much faster since I looked at my photo editor and found how to shrink the pictures. To 5 seconds from about 5 minutes! That should make all of you happier too, as it will load much faster for you also.
We hit the road at 9 and were in our new motel by 3. We started this morning in a narrow valley between fairly barren mountains. The first few kms was alongside a lake followed by areas of grazing sheep and cattle. After about an hour, right where we would have turned off at Milford Sound, it opened into a much wider valley between low mountains in the distance that gradually petered out into hills. The main agriculture was sheep grazing – the highest concentration that we have seen so far – plus a few cattle and deer grazing and some forage crops.
Alongside the lake we came across an area where they had set up traffic lights to permit one way traffic while they worked on the other lane. They were trenching right down the middle of one of the driving lanes! I guess when everything is rock, the middle of the road is the best place to go.
We saw our first speed trap today – no, you guessed wrong – we didn’t get a ticket. This car has a warning buzzer set at 110 kph to warn you if your speed creeps up on you on the rare straight-aways.
I caught some weather reports in the last couple of days. The first one warned of a deep low pressure area with a clod front from the northwest causing a big storm on the north island with 4 to 6 inches of rain being common. Last night there were reports of extensive flooding, downed trees and downed power lines but we experienced good weather here. The forecast for here was for a weaker cold front from the southwest to bring mostly cloudy skies, cooler temperatures and possible showers for today. Looks to be right on.
After finding our motel in Dunedin, we made our first stop at the Cadbury factory. They export some of the product made here to Canada. It was just like Discovery Channel – with samples! Not quite Milford Sound, but tastier. And they let us keep the hats! They had a basket of cocoa beans ready for processing that you could sample. They tasted and smelled much like powdered cocoa used in baking. And the whole factory smelled like baking chocolate. That would be a tough place to work! Afterward, we toured some of the downtown. There are many interesting buildings from the 1800s.
I am a little bummed about missing Milford Sound. If we had noticed the problem sooner, we could have positioned ourselves for a shorter day. As it was, it would have been a doable, but long and difficult day, leaving the rest of our time here on a pretty tight timetable. And then there is the driving and the weather. We would have had two hours of decent driving, 3 hours of wicked driving, a cruise for a couple of hours, and another 3 bad hours back to where we would have stayed. I normally don’t mind driving, but this mountain stuff has worn me down to where I don’t look forward to it very much. Milford Sound is known for its wet weather and, when it is not raining, its swarms of biting sand flies (probably the ones we encountered a couple of days ago). We are at the stage of life when our desire for comfort overcomes our sense of adventure. Add it all up and Milford Sound wasn’t going to happen for us.
An afterthought: I meant to mention that after walking across town for fish and chips in Blenheim, we came across a fish and chips takeaway store about a block in the other direction when we left the next morning. I wish they had been in the yellow pages!
Another one: None of the places we have stayed have had any kind of central heating or cooling. Only a couple have had room air conditioners. All have had in room heaters and many have had electric blankets. I guess that’s how it is in this climate. The heaters are often an electric radiator affair, but we have also seen water radiators and more familiar electric heaters like at home.
We hit the road at 9 and were in our new motel by 3. We started this morning in a narrow valley between fairly barren mountains. The first few kms was alongside a lake followed by areas of grazing sheep and cattle. After about an hour, right where we would have turned off at Milford Sound, it opened into a much wider valley between low mountains in the distance that gradually petered out into hills. The main agriculture was sheep grazing – the highest concentration that we have seen so far – plus a few cattle and deer grazing and some forage crops.Alongside the lake we came across an area where they had set up traffic lights to permit one way traffic while they worked on the other lane. They were trenching right down the middle of one of the driving lanes! I guess when everything is rock, the middle of the road is the best place to go.
We saw our first speed trap today – no, you guessed wrong – we didn’t get a ticket. This car has a warning buzzer set at 110 kph to warn you if your speed creeps up on you on the rare straight-aways.
I caught some weather reports in the last couple of days. The first one warned of a deep low pressure area with a clod front from the northwest causing a big storm on the north island with 4 to 6 inches of rain being common. Last night there were reports of extensive flooding, downed trees and downed power lines but we experienced good weather here. The forecast for here was for a weaker cold front from the southwest to bring mostly cloudy skies, cooler temperatures and possible showers for today. Looks to be right on.
After finding our motel in Dunedin, we made our first stop at the Cadbury factory. They export some of the product made here to Canada. It was just like Discovery Channel – with samples! Not quite Milford Sound, but tastier. And they let us keep the hats! They had a basket of cocoa beans ready for processing that you could sample. They tasted and smelled much like powdered cocoa used in baking. And the whole factory smelled like baking chocolate. That would be a tough place to work! Afterward, we toured some of the downtown. There are many interesting buildings from the 1800s.
I am a little bummed about missing Milford Sound. If we had noticed the problem sooner, we could have positioned ourselves for a shorter day. As it was, it would have been a doable, but long and difficult day, leaving the rest of our time here on a pretty tight timetable. And then there is the driving and the weather. We would have had two hours of decent driving, 3 hours of wicked driving, a cruise for a couple of hours, and another 3 bad hours back to where we would have stayed. I normally don’t mind driving, but this mountain stuff has worn me down to where I don’t look forward to it very much. Milford Sound is known for its wet weather and, when it is not raining, its swarms of biting sand flies (probably the ones we encountered a couple of days ago). We are at the stage of life when our desire for comfort overcomes our sense of adventure. Add it all up and Milford Sound wasn’t going to happen for us.
An afterthought: I meant to mention that after walking across town for fish and chips in Blenheim, we came across a fish and chips takeaway store about a block in the other direction when we left the next morning. I wish they had been in the yellow pages!
Another one: None of the places we have stayed have had any kind of central heating or cooling. Only a couple have had room air conditioners. All have had in room heaters and many have had electric blankets. I guess that’s how it is in this climate. The heaters are often an electric radiator affair, but we have also seen water radiators and more familiar electric heaters like at home.
posted by Celeste at
2:59 p.m.
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