Duntrron is well known in Scotland and also in Australia as the home to Duntroon Military College.

However less well known id Duntroon on the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand but indeed it holds the key to Duntrron in Australia.

We had finished our visit to the historic Anglican church in Duntrron and were proceeding back towards the coast or so we thought.

In downtown Duntroon the local hotel had stood vacant for many years. However today the car park was full of vertean cars and the parking area opposite the hotel contained a good number of both cars and motorcycles.

It was the sound of a Scottish band that made us come to a halt on the roadside and walk across the road to see a small but enthusiastic band in full regalia playing on the front lawn.

Would they play Amazing Grace?

The day began a little late as we found the three bedroom chalet at Mt Hutt to be so warm and cosy after we lit the log burner that we all sleep in, well only until 8am.

The owner had left half a dozen fresh eggs so scrambled eggs were soon being served after cereal and yogurt.

The trip while only covering in length some 100kms saw us driving some 380kms using the back roads and visits to small settlements as we had all day to be at Omarau for the second last night.

We travelled where ever possible next to the mountains and were never grateful for the opportunties the scenery afforded especially the newly fallen powder snow on the peaks.

The former glacial valleys were again resplendent with vast herds of cattle feeding on irrigated pastures while the irrigation systems watered the green fields.

Interspersed where the turnip crops and lucerne, occassionally we came across burnt stubble fields and very infrequently a harvester working on a crop.

Sorghum and maize filled in any blank spaces apart from sheep grazing some freshly shorn while others carried a full season of wool.

The small hamlets and villages offered a contrast some containing only a local hall and cemetry while others were bustling with market stalls and cafes or hotels where being a fine sunny day often groups of motorcylists gathered.

We stopped in Kurnow to see progress on fund raising for a statue to a local All Blacks player and later Captain from 2001-2015.

we stopped frequently as despite now having spent almost 5 weeks riding New Zealand we are still unable to by pass scenery that is just not found in Australia and indeed while it contains some examples very similiar to Canada, the USA and Scandanivan countries every turn in New Zealand has a uniqiness only New Zealand has.

We arrived in Omarau and despite cruising the internet and physically found no accommodation as what was normally available had been taken by fans attending The Eagles reunion concert in Dundein the same night.

Good old McDonald's provided free internet and HotelsAustralia.com suggested two places were curently available at Timaru some 85kms North (the direction we were going the next day fortunately) so I booked and surprised the rest of the party when we arrived at The Villa a four bedroom, ten bed unit at Bay Watch Motel. It had previously being a house and now is a Villa with exclusve use for us.

Did the band at Duntroon play Amazing Grace, well first tjey decided to have a beer so we explored the history of Duntroon. It is named after Duntroon in Scotland by the early Pastoralist family the Campbells who held the largest lease in the area. Mrs campbell also gave six thousand pounds for the establishment of Duntrron Church while Mr Campbell went to Australia and established what is now Royal Military College Duntroon.

Well you might ask what did the band play, that readers is a mystery as we waited and waited and then left as band members were still content to consume free ale on this day, the reopening, of Duntron Hotel.