Arrived at campsite in Dunedin and decided to catch a bus into town. After waiting 20 minutes with Roger pacing backwards and forwards and becoming mighty uncomplimentary about NZ public transport, we realised that it was half past two and not half past one - which explained both the missing bus and my rumbling tum! Anyway eventually made it into the city and found a lovely Irish pub for lunch. Decided to take a guided walk and were introduced to our guide, a pleasant looking Kiwi guy, called "Ethel". I spent the whole tour thinking of the saga of "A man called Sue", before realising that his name was actually "Athol" and the clipped NZ vowels were to blame for the misunderstanding. Anyway Ethel was very informative and took us around "historic" Dunedin which was founded by a Scottish Presbyterian group of settlers and whose first minister was Pastor Burns, a nephew of the famous poet. The old railway station was perhaps the highlight as was talking to Ethel, who we had all to ourselves, and who was able to talk knowledgeably about both past and modern NZ. The tour finished in a local Scottish bar with a glass of Glenlivet and a taster of haggis and biscuits - very nice it all was too!

The next day we drove all around the Otago Peninsula which was quite beautiful in a very peaceful and less dramatic way than Fiordland. We looked at Tairoroa Head where there are protected colonies of Royal Albatross and yellow-eyed penguins and took a boat trip around the peninsula which thoughtfully provided both binoculars and warm jackets. From the boat we saw several Albatross both flying and in the water and feeding their chicks in nest sites above. The birds were very impressive with a wing span of 3 metres. Also spotted a couple more colonies of fur seals and various sea birds including a black Petrel, the scavenger of the sea.

After lunch we decided to look for a walk and so headed down a gravel track signposted "walking trail". The track went on for miles and Roger was getting increasingly anxious about being able to turn the van around or indeed even park it. Eventually persistence was rewarded and we came to a car parking area of sorts and set off across a field to find the most glorious deserted beach (Allans Bay) with white sand stretching at least a mile and backed by dunes. We were the only people for miles and we set off to walk along the beach and enjoy the sunshine when OMG we literally stumbled across the most enormous Sea Lion sunning himself on the beach and busily engaged in digging a wallow in the sand and throwing it over his back with his flippers. I had not realised that they were that large - at least 2 metres long and weighing 500kg. When he moved his body wobbled all over and brought back memories of the Aussie woman on Moreton Island! Eventually we dragged ourselves away to continue the walk and passed another 7 Sea Lions in all - various sizes with the female being smaller and paler and a lot less intimidating. It was really special because we had found them all on our own and completely unexpectedly and made a lovely walk a truly memorable occasion.

Finally must tell you about Roger's difficulties in accessing Nigel and Julie's blog. He thought they were using a website called "Make Me Jealous" but when he tried that, it turned out to be some sort of adult site and he was regaled with links to cuckolded wives and "woman on woman" sites - it sure is a strange world!