Today we made the long journey from Milford Sound to Dunedin. On the way out of Milford Sound we were the only vehicle to be going through Homer Tunnel, so we got a great view of the tunnel in our headlights. On the other side we stopped to admire the view of the valley when a Kea landed on the roof of the campervan and started chewing the ariel. This was amusing and we got some great photos, until we noticed the cheeky b***** had bitten off the top of the ariel! We shooed the pesky bird away and headed back to Te Anau, stopping at various scenic views and waterfalls on the way.

On the way to Dunedin we made a detour to visit “Somebody’s Darling”, one of the Lonely Graves, south of Millers Flat. We’d learnt about Somebody’s Darling from Billy Connelly’s World Tour of Australia. The popular story goes that William Rigney found an unknown man drowned at Horseshoe Bend, and after the inquest into his death, no-one came to collect his body. So the unknown man was buried with a wooden headboard with the inscription “Somebody’s Darling Lies Buried Here”. William Rigney was later buried next to the unknown man with the inscription “Here lies the body of William Rigney, the man who buried Somebody’s Darling”. The board next to the graves tells the popular story, as above, but also presents what is probably the truth behind the tale. But we won’t spoil the story here! Andy’s Dad wanted an original picture of the grave for inclusion in his book, and we were happy to go and visit.

After visiting the graves, we took a stroll to Horseshoe Bend bridge. Horseshoe Bend was a gold mining community, but after the gold rush the population declined to around 30. Like many other small communities along the Clutha River, Horseshoe Bend was on the wrong side of the river and people had to cross by boat. Due to the lack of a regular river crossing, the children’s attendance at school was irregular, so the parents lobbied the council and in 1887 a chair suspended from a wire was constructed, which allowed passengers to pull themselves across the river. Unfortunately, the wire was built with a slope, which made it difficult for people to pull themselves ‘uphill’, it only carried one person at a time and was 75m above the water! Eventually in 1913 a bridge was built across the river at Horseshoe Bend, and it was this bridge we went to visit. The bridge is a wooden suspension bridge set in beautiful countryside and is spectacular to look at. Crossing it is fun as the river flows very fast underneath and the wood of the bridge is a little worn and creaky!

Back in the campervan we drove to Dunedin. We checked into the campsite then wandered out for some food. We were in the student area of the city but they were all on vacation, which explains why it was very quiet and the bar serving pizza we’d been recommended stopped serving food early. So we went to the Indian next door and eat too much before rolling back to the van.