Alas for Dunedin, much belittled by the weather.

Sunday in Te Anau was wet, windy and miserable, as only a wet sunday in a tourist town at the end of the season can be. It was not a day for outdoor adventures or exploration, especially as I have little or nothing in the way of serious wet (and jolly chilly) weather clothing. Yes, I did expect to get rained on occasionally and a little cold, but I did not expect freezing temperatures!!

Woke up Sunday craving a full english, don't ask me why, I just did. So went off in search of a cafe and found one serving a very nice range of breakfasts. Didn't quite go with the full english, but had this wonderful stack which was rye bread, topped with bacon, sausage and a fried egg and smothered in hollandaise sauce, with a huge glass of OJ and some lovely tea. Thus suitable sated, I went down to the tourist info to find the location of the local wildlife sanctuary I'd heard about, to see some rare local birds. While there discovered that snow was forecast for that night and people were being advised to hire snow chains or delay travelling!!! Was a little alarmed to say the least, as I was supposed to be driving over to Dunedin on the west coast the next day!!

Wildlife sanctuary was something of a let down and very soggy, so I repaired back to town for some lunch and went in search of a rainy activity to fill the afternoon. With virtually everything shut for the season I ended up in the local cinema watching Happy Feet 2, which was a bad as I remember the critics saying it was. Then hit a cafe for some coffee and some quiet time with my book, as it was the sort of day crying out for a good log fire, a good book, a warm quilt and a comfy sofa. Alas, the best I could come up with was a good book!!

Early night, although I had been advised to not start off too early for Dunedin, in case the snow had come down into the passes, so that other traffic could get the roads going before I started out.

So, a leisurely start to Monday, and it had snowed, but it looked like it hadn't come down too far from the mountains, so the Dunedin road was okay. Took it steady, but pretty much got rained or sleeted on the whole way to Dunedin. Checked into my hotel (which was supposed to be an upgrade, but if it is, I'm a monkey's uncle!) and tried to go for a bit of a wander, but it was still raining quite hard and there was a very distinct nip in the wind. So I decided the only decent thing to do on a rainy Monday night was to go to the cinema.

Drove into the centre of Dunedin (it's supposed to be a 10 minute walk from my hotel, but it was at least a 10 minute drive, so I think someone is fibbing, or else they walk a lot faster than me, and I walk pretty fast) and timed it just right to watch The Avengers, which I was expecting to be fairly corny, but actually was very enjoyable and had some good comedy moments - the Hulk vs. Loki was probably the best!

Had found a brochure in the hotel for a 2 hour walking tour of Dunedin, so got a taxi into town this morning - it was still raining - for the 10am tour. Turned out it was just me (again), so set off for my personal tour. Been on a few of these now and usually they are better than the bulk coach versions, but I wasn't terribly impressed with my guide and I don't think the tour had been particularly well planned out, as there wasn't a very logical flow to the places we visited. Don't get me wrong, all the key highlights were there, but it just didn't seem to follow any logical order and one of the key spots, the Otago Settlers museum, is currently shut for renovations, so I think that would have pulled everything together in some semblance of order. The Railway Station was fab, beautifully preserved and really lovely and the Anglican cathedral was also lovely, until you got to the modern extension, which really didn't suit at all, someone should have shot the architect down in flames.....

As it was a miserable day, again, instead of my planned wander around the town I hopped in my car to visit New Zealand's only castle (cue laughing or sighing from the Porter tribe...) which isn't really a castle, just a rather splendid country pad, that has been wonderfully restored and absolutely worth a trip out to see it. I imagine it looks really fabulous in the summer and the views over the Otago Peninsula and the bay must be stunning. Alas, no internal photography allowed, otherwise there would have been many, many photos. The Gardens also looked great, but very uninviting on a wet, cold and windy afternoon!!

Reasonably early night, as have the longest drive yet tomorrow, up the coast to Christchurch, my last stop in New Zealand! Am planning to stop and have a look at the Moeraki boulders on the way, so I'm thinking it will take pretty much all of tomorrow, and I need some serious sleep; soundproofing doesn't seem to particularly be a priority in hotels here in NZ, either through the windows or between the rooms, unless I just have some especially noisy neighbours here in this hotel. Honestly, I swear I could hear them in at least 2 rooms away last night, so I'm hoping that it's a little quieter tonight! Thankfully the rain should be gone tomorrow, which I'm glad of as it's rained for 3 days solid now, so the driving should be a little easier, but I'm hoping to get to Christchurch before it gets dark!