We had a great couple of flights to get to Dunedin and were even the first to be dropped off by the Airport Shuttle. Why a shuttle? Why not a cab or an uber for the short, 20 kms / 20 minutes trip from the airport to town? That would be the ‘Not in a developing country’ tax - phew! NZ has gotten expensive(er) in the last couple of years - $80 fixed price for an airport cab. Vs. $36 for the two of us in an airport shuttle to the door of our new home. Absolute no brainer. We’ve come to the conclusion there’s no such thing as cheap anymore... but with copious amounts of ducking, diving, weaving and discount hunting, we can at least get ‘less expensive’.

We were welcomed to our new house on the hill in Kew, Dunedin by our little mate for the next 7 weeks - Coco the Cat and, for that matter, Coco the Concierge... She trundled down the path to the road, meowed her hellos and led us up to the house. Would take years to train a dog to do that. Anyway.

We love our sweeping views over the city and the sunrises are to die for (have seen at least 3 on the very few days we bother to get up around 7 am). Neither of us have seen much of Dunedin over the years - previously just a quick in and out, the scenic train to Taieri Gorge and an overnight visit to Larnach Castle out on the peninsula a few years ago. Which has been great - it’s left us so many things to see and do for the first time.

We kept our powder dry until James’s mum joined us from Australia for a couple of weeks and then we went sightseeing crazy. One of our first day trips was up the coast towards Timaru to see the Moeraki Boulders. Whilst definitely world famous in NZ (must admit we’d never heard of them), it turns out they are almost unique in the world. Massive great stone marbles that emerge from the cliffs and slowly disappear into the sand and the sea. Basically soft mudstone containing the boulders was raised from the sea bed around 15 million years ago and the sea erosion of the beach and cliff is exposing the erosion-resistant boulders which formed 65 million years ago. What we found really astounding is they are just in one tiny patch of the beach - clear beach in all directions around them - looks like a giant has dropped his marble bag. We found a scenic spot on the beach on the return journey to enjoy our packed lunch and a coffee and took a hard left on the drive back to the city, via the Orokonui wildlife sanctuary and made our way to Port Chalmers. As we crossed the hills we had stunning views across to the peninsula and it was only as we came to the edge of the small township that we realised there was a narrow coast road that meant we could drive right along the water’s edge as we headed back in to the city - a pleasant, scenic surprise and there was no-one else on it mid-week.

We are currently living in Kew so ‘south’ Dunedin. It’s not that it’s a massive city, but it is very clearly delineated into south, central and north. We decided to see what the north had to offer and continued to tick off the ‘must see’ sights of Dunedin with a visit to Baldwin Street and the Botanic Garden. Billed as the steepest street in the world, we thankfully visited Baldwin Street in a car and were ecstatic to have done so as we watched people hauling themselves up this asphalt Everest. Even one of the shopkeepers in town warned us not to walk it - if you don’t have wheels, she said, take the bus or don’t bother. We had a cracking visit however (with our wheels) and drove up and down just to see how steep it was. There are a few places in the world you couldn’t pay us to live - mostly in developing countries - but we can safely add Baldwin Street, Dunedin to the list. Since we were already in north Dunedin it was only a short drive to the Botanic Garden and we came prepared with at least 6 maps(!) from the info centre. The reason for this seeming excess of information is that it’s hilly and some of the tracks, conveniently marked in red, require a good level of fitness and are on rocky, gravelly and unstable spots. So we stuck to the lower gardens, the flat, easy, pretty bit, and enjoyed the late-blooming roses in the rose garden, the cacti and tropical plants in the large, Kew like glass house and then fed the ducks. It’s not that we planned ahead and brought stale bread - we never have any and even if we did the chickens would have first dibs. The info centre in the gardens actually hands out small bags of seeds for free for the specific purpose of feeding the ducks. Bargain! The ducks in particular think this is a splendid system. The sunny day with big clouds suddenly turned into torrential rain and we escaped into the cafe for an overpriced coffee and a biscuit. On a positive note, we had the place almost to ourselves and had enjoyed our free duck-feeding experience so much we could justify the price of a coffee. Almost.

It’s not all ducks, skittles, scenery and wildlife in Dunedin. One of the exiciting features of the Dunedin (and NZ) retail landscape is their thrift shops. Rather like Ireland (our other thrift shop mecca), there are amazing bargains to be had - which fit right in with our pale-green concern for the environment (stops things going to landfill) and our dark-green concern for keeping as much green (cash) in our pockets as possible (to pay for more travelling and our alternative lifestyle). We gave Joan a well curated tour of some of Dunedin’s best thrift offerings and have picked up some excellent merino products to help keep us snuggly during the winter months - including a Merino Mink (possum/merino blend) jumper for just $6! Bargain.

The other way we economise here in the land of the long, white grocery docket is by using discount websites like BookMe. We discovered this a couple of years ago and have been mining it’s offers like gold prospectors with the fever. One of our first outings was a visit to Olveston House. Truly a testament to the wealth that was in Dunedin in it’s early years as a city and during the gold rush. Olveston was one of the most beautiful stately homes we’ve ever seen and full of luxuries that most NZ housing doesn’t have even now - central heating, double glazing and an internal telephone system. They also had an electric toaster and and even a new-fangled shower device in the bathroom. At least we can say we have those in our current house, if not central heating and double glazing. And it was completed in 1907. Absolutely fabulous guided tour/visit and thanks to BookMe - $11 each instead of $22. Definitely less expensive.

There is one spot in Dunedin that it is almost impossible to economise at however and that is the Railway Station Farmers’ Market every Saturday. Quaint - yes. Stunning railway station - yes. A huge variety of artisanal foods and products - absolutely. Ability to go through a constipated bank account like a dose of salts? 100% This is expensive - even by NZ standards. We took Joan along and tested some NZ made olive oil - thankfully we didn’t fancy it as for $60 a litre we thought it was a bit on the nose. As it happens the Spanish olive oil from the supermercado at $11 is much more to our taste. Coffees are the usual - $4.50 to $5 - even Dunedin-ites have drawn a line in the sand at the $5 mark. We did score an absolute bargain - $2 for a massive marrow. We’d never cooked one before, but it turned out to roast up beautifully, just like a pumpkin and we’ve used 3 separate chunks of it for 3 roast dinners so far.

We concluded our morning’s outing in central Dunedin with a walk around many of it’s historic buildings with the assistance of a self-guided map from the info centre. Some stunning places certainly, most built in the 1880s and even from the outside the high ceilings, generous proportions and wealth of architectural features were apparent. The surreal urge to develop them into top end apartments was never far away.

One of the major highlights of being this far south in a wild and woolly part of the country is the wildlife. James and I visited the Otago Peninsula a few years ago when we drove the Southern Scenic Route around southern NZ - but as was often the case, there just wasn’t enough time to get into anything in depth - so the extent of our visit was an overnight stay at Larnach Castle and enjoying the views on the drive there and back. This time we made a full day of it and set off with a packed lunch relatively bright and early (by 9.30 am) to explore the area. We followed the low road around MacAndrew Bay and out to the point and the Royal Albatross Centre for a coffee and morning tea. The views of the seals basking on Pilots Beach were incredible and the outlook over the ocean just majestic. We motored back and turned off well before Portobello to reach Allans Beach - our fingers were crossed at the chance of seeing the very rare and endangered NZ sea lions (previously known as Hooker Sea Lions). We love Google Maps with a passion as we would have felt a bit lost a bit quick as we nosed along the gravel roads to get across the peninsula. We were flabbergasted when we crossed the small stretch of private land to reach the beach track to find a sea lioness lying quietly on the grass next to the track. She was so peaceful that James and Joan walked past her without noticing her and as the last one over the fence I whispered to get their attention. Initially the beastie looked a bit unwell - but we’d read up on the local wildlife and they apparently can give the appearance of being sick or dying... whilst just lying there. We took a load of photos and she eventually put on a little show for us before settling down again. We walked to the beach - gloriously empty, isolated and wild (no more sea lions) and then back again to find madam lying on the beach track. Given that 10-20 m is the safe distance to pass one of these creatures we crept over the dunes and gave her as wide a berth as possible on our walk back to the fence and safely onto the private farm land. Incredible experience. Really thought our luck was superb - right up until we drove out and continued on the gravel roads around Hooper’s Inlet - only to find another sea lion and 3 pups had taken up residence right next to the road - wow! We think the rarity and endangeredness of the sea lions might be overstated just a touch. But then we were phenomenally lucky with the tigers in Rajasthan too. On a wildlife ‘high’ we headed back aross the penisnsula to Portobello, ate our packed lunch at the waters edge then headed up Highcliff (the high road) for the drive home with magnificent ocean views, woolly sheep and rolling green hills all around - quinessential kiwiland.

Unless going broke is your thing (and it’s not ours), hanging out for extended periods in downtown Dunedin is just not necessary. While we have the use of a car we decided to go and soak up some more scenery. We stocked up with maps, leaflets and walking guides (again, the info centre) and hit the road on a chilly yet fine day to visit Lake Waihola. This very scenic spot is probably pumping in the middle of summer but made for a very quiet spot the day after howling gales, hail and excessive rain. Even the kiddies swing and slide set was 2 feet under water. But the day after the gales was beautiful and it was a cracking drive down the coast with a visit to Brighton Beach en route. We also took the opportunity to walk the 800m boardwalk at the Titri Creek wetlands - great spot, though the ‘No Hunting near the boardwalk’ signs did give us pause... was it even hunting season? As it turned out yes - so we stuck to the boardwalk like glue. Mind you, after the ‘Landmines Cleared’ signs in Cambodia, this was nothing really.

Our final scenic jaunt during Joan’s visit was a trip to the Truby King Reserve and the ruins of an infamous mental asylum. There wasn’t much left, just foundations and a good walk around the grounds. This asylum, built well away from Dunedin and closed when asylums went out of fashion, was the site of a tragic fire in the 1940s when a secure ward burned down in the night and 32 women died due to wartime staff shortages and being locked in. The asylum was built on unstable ground and the foundations started cracking very soon after it was constructed - so whilst they will never know the cause of the fire, an electrical fault due to the subsidence was always suspected. With all the sadness of the site and it’s times, it was interesting to learn that the reserve was named after Truby King, the superintendent of the hospital for 30 odd years and also the man who founded the Plunket society in NZ devoted to mothercare and the reduction of infant mortality. After our history lesson we figured ‘close enough’ and went another 10 kms further on for a look at the Huriawa lookout, the site of a Maori pa or fort. Surprise, surprise - more stunning views including rock arches with waves pounding through them. On the drive back to the city we helped a couple of ‘waste not-want not’ initiatives and stocked up on fruit - a couple of kilos of windfall apples from one wheelbarrow and some quinces from a roadside box in Seacliff - and made a crumble - ‘free’ being a much better price for organic produce than those charged at the Farmers Market.

All this Dunedin busy-ness, which covered Joan’s two week stay (until 20 May) - was just the tip of the iceberg - the fun had just begun when we embarked on a two day scenic trip to Queenstown to celebrate two birthdays and Mothers Day in one fell swoop. But that’s a tale for another day.