The change to daylight saving time meant that we lost a precious hour of sleep this morning. However, we were up, packed, had breakfast and still out in time to check in for a tour of the Speight's brewery. It's a fascinating old place and they have been brewing beer there for more than 150 years and still using some of the original equipment. The earthquakes in Christchurch have resulted in some of the operations from there being moved to Dunedin so they are much busier than before but still don't work weekends! Our guide was an interesting chap who kept us entertained with plenty of patter but we couldn't help feeling that he didn't let facts get in the way of a good yarn! After the tour we had the opportunity to taste about half a dozen Speight's beers and a cider. All good stuff and we were left to help ourselves which could possibly have been a mistake on somebody's part!

It was icy cold as we made our way back to the hotel and time to check out as our visit to the wonderful South Island of New Zealand was rapidly coming to an end. However, it was just a bit too early to head for the airport so we followed a sign that said 'Brighton' and went looking for our home from home. We ended up in a lovely little village right by the sea with rugged coastline and a quiet beach, certainly much smaller than our Brighton back home. There was no cafe but we stopped at a small art gallery which advertised coffees. The sun was shining as we went inside. We were made very welcome and enjoyed browsing the local art while we drank our coffee and ate delicious chocolate fudge.

As we left the weather had taken a turn for the worse and we were hit by gusting winds and more of that horrible sleety rain. The lady at the art gallery had told us a short cut to the airport where we would have to go across unmade roads across country but would get wonderful views on the way. Lucky we had a 4 wheel drive as it was tough going in places and what's this, surely not! Yes, we were in the middle of a blizzard with blinding snow coming down and the wind driving it sideways on accross the road. The poor sheep and lambs in the fields were huddling together to avoid the icy blast but not much luck for them. So much for the beautiful spring weather of a couple of days ago and it now seems winter must be on it's way back!

At this point we decided to be sensible and avoid the 'good weather' dirt road and took the tarmac road which eventually led us to the airport. Once we were inside the snow miraculously stopped and there was sunshine again. We are beginning to understand what they mean about four seasons in one day.

Back in Auckland the skies looked dark again and we took a very brisk walk to the international terminal. Once through all formalities we settled down in the Koru Lounge to watch Scotland play Argentina. Now, who do we really want to win?!!