We were a little bit disappointed when we found out on Friday that we were headed to Dunedin rather than a warming spa retreat in Hanmer Springs, but as it turned out it was a very relaxing break, and it was great to catch up with family in between sightseeing, rather than go somewhere where we didn't know any-one.
We took the togs out of the bag, and were all packed up on Sunday night as we had the early flight out at 6.30am. Of course we were wide awake well before the alarm went off, so we went on down to the airport early as we had to get all the info posted to our phone app for Air New Zealand. We arrived in Dunedin just after 10am, and got our rental car which was part of the deal and headed off to Kaka Point.
Jill had their cute little pellet fire going, and had made vege soup in broth that she had made using beef bones herself. I thought she looked very fetching in this top.
Then it was down to the beach for a walk in the sunshine. It was low tide, and a group of people were down by the rocks gathering something - maybe seaweed or muscles. I love a good rock pool investigation, and this large, well padded starfish took my eye.
Then we drove back to Dunedin - nippy Corolla hybrid, to our hotel. I was rushing around trying to find out where we would be able to see the Aurora, but Jill sent us an app which registered 0 for all the time we were there just about. It went up to 2 at one stage which was "can not be seen with the naked eye, may be visible through a sophisticated camera" We went to a turkish restaurant that night.
Next morning, Tuesday 14th May, we went for a walk down the main street of Dunedin. This was after an absolutely splendid breakfast at the hotel. Every morning it was a highlight. A couple of streets are now pedestrian friendly, and there is an attempt to reflect the stories of Dunedin.
Like Duncan on the canoe shaped seesaw, or a beautiful bird life mural:
We popped into the mall for a coffee and saw these very elegant sculptures of the albatross above us.
Then it was onto the Art Gallery, which is always worth a visit. They were just redoing the upstairs exhibit, so we were content with the Otago Artists exhibition.
This one really caught my eye. The baby in the first painting is the mother in the second, and the mother in the third painting is the artist whose child is named after the baby and mother in the previous two.
This was huge, and a lovely depiction of the Dunedin Harbour.
We drove down to the esplanade and had a small lunch at Starfish. There were a few brave surfies out there - full wetsuits from head to toe. It looked gorgeous.
Duncan has been making good use of the gym. I thought a might join him, but then I thought better of it. So we had time to watch most of the news before we met Alex and Ella at the Speights Ale House.
Alex chose Bangers and Mash
I thought I was getting a small meal - but no room left for dessert.
Wednesday:
We headed off to Winton which is just north of Invercargill, going down by Mataura, and back via Gore - just a bit over 2 hours each way. Norman (Duncan's cousin) and Glenys are about the same age as us, so we had lots in common. They sold their farm some years ago - but farmers do find it hard to downsize, so they still have quite a bit of land.
The lounge was lovely and warm, and through the gap in the poplars you could just see a snow capped mountain range.
They have created a small lake down here - but big enough for a rowing boat, and plenty of birdlife. We had a lovely lunch and a chat - but they were on duty to pick up their grandson, so we left about 2.30. That night we just went to the hotel bar and grill for a meal.
Time to pack up, and we decided to investigate the retirement villages in Mosgiel, just so this would help us make up our minds when we finally do sell - whether we buy a normal house, or a unit, or stay in Gisborne or move south. The jury is still out on this verdict. We went to three - one where you own the building, not just the right to occupy, which is very new and probably out of our price range. The second one seems very large and very crowded. The third one was very nice and had views of the hills, was near the golf course, but the dementia wing was a separate facility. It seems almost mandatory to have a dementia wing these days!!
We were very early out to the Koru club at the airport, but the flights back were good - even though it was just after 8pm.
A wonderful Break away.
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