A long, long time ago, in a lifetime far, far away, we used to watch a programme called Blackadder, starring Rowan Atkinson. One of the many witticisms (or racist tirades) that stuck was when the Welsh language was being discussed and Blackadder said you needed half a throatful of phlegm just to say the place names. The New Zealand place names sometimes remind us of that show. We’ve been in these parts long enough (in my case, for a fair while between birth and University), that they feel (relatively) simple, but to a few different friends living in say France, we can certainly understand the trepidation when faced with ‘Wingatui’ or even ‘Mosgiel’.

In any event, we set out from Dunedin to our car-free 3 week housesit in Wingatui with enough groceries, meat, wine, cheese and bread to withstand a significant civil disturbance. Which, face it, is exactly what 3 weeks without a car means in these semi-rural, antenna-to-a-satellite town places like Wingatui. It’s not as though we were entirely cut off from civilisation, we did, afterall, have the Otago Racing Club’s race track backing on to the property. The first time we accomplished the 12 km return walk from Wingatui to the township of Mosgiel it was in fact the last race day of the season - unbeknownst to us. Had we known, we would have thrown on the glad rags and gone racing (gallops). As it was we were stuffed and made do with a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc, some nibbles and $10 into the TAB account online... we managed a couple of bets on the last 2 races on the card by putting $1 each way on the silliest horse names (for instance She’ll Cat Choux. Unfortunately, she didn’t - in fact, she’s quite possibly still running). It was silly and fun and a bit of a giggle to be listening to the live race commentary from just over the fence and it’s probably lucky we don’t live in Wingatui, otherwise we’d be fully paid up members, if not the owners of a hind leg, and over at the race track every chance we got for the social fun.

Luckily, as 12 km jaunts to Mosgiel were not something to be done every day, we had the biggest TV screen we’ve ever seen in a private home. 75 inches of crystal clear viewing pleasure with superfast internet and our Netflix account. Absolutely superb. You have not enjoyed Stranger Things 3 until you’ve done it no more than 2 metres from a screen like that.

We puttered. We walked to town. We visited family. We enjoyed Lee’s Fish & Chips for the princely sum of $7 sitting in the sun at a wooden picnic table, along with coffee from our flask (that in itself saves $10 and thus... pays for the lunch). To avoid buying low cost rubbish brand new, we even bought the vintage Aladdin flask for a mere $3 from one of the local thrift shops - good for the environment and a saving of $12 over brand new. When we left India at the end of March, we thought it would be at least 6 months until we fancied a curry - as it turns out, less than 4 went by before the urge hit. We were therefore lucky to come across a small Indian restaurant doing a lunch special for $10 a hit. Superb and, in a town where $20+ is the usual fee for a sit down lunch, very special indeed.

We spent 3 weeks in Wingatui housesitting a beautiful, almost new, warm and insulated house - a far cry from the spot in Dunedin that almost froze us into the afterlife. The dogs were good company and the cats were more or less solitary - except for Wilbur - henceforth ‘The Cat that Never Shut Up’ - bless his furry not-so-little self.

With 10 nights until our next commitment in scenic Wainui on Bank’s Peninsula, we took some time to decompress and stayed in an AirBnB in Mosgiel - a mere kilometre from the main (and only) shopping street. We were so close! We walked in every day, did a lap of the thrift stores - buying books, socks, Ugg boots and a stray merino top or two... landfills everywhere are grateful for us taking a load off their incoming loads. We even picked up an antique tin plate money box for 50 cents that was so cute we couldn’t resist - that and it had that ‘look’ about it. We will probably keep it as a mascot, but the last time one sold on Ebay it went for $200 or so. Bargain.

All good things must come to an end (how’s that for a defeatist, depressing cliche, if ever there was one). We decided that good things don’t come to an end - they just change format. We packed up, weighed our ever increasing baggages and caught a cab 5 minutes from one side of Mosgiel to the other ($14) to catch our Intercity coach to Christchurch ($45). Stunning views, especially in the first part of the trip - we even saw lambs just outside of Oamaru. We arrived into Christchurch spot on time at 7.20 pm - had an Uber on station within a couple of minutes ($9.50) and were ensconced in our motel for the night by 7.35 pm - hugely economical way to make our way from A to B - so it was definitely worth an extra $10 for an upgrade to the 1 bedroom spa bath apartment - utter bliss after 9 nights seemingly showering in a freezer at the Mosgiel AirBnb.

It’s been a great 4 or so weeks and finished off our time in the deep south in fine style. Next up? Wainui (Why-noo-wee) - a short drive from Akaroa, a long drive (90 minutes) from Christchurch and home until 3 Sept when it’s ‘North! To Karapiro!’ for our final kiwi adventure.