Monthly Archives: April 2025

Part 20 – Friendzone: A weekend in Dunedin

We had plans to see other travel / motorcycling friends, Janet and Scott, later this afternoon. By now, they also have three kids so we were invited for a catch up and dinner after naptime at 3.30pm. Which meant, we had almost a whole day to kill first.

So we opted to spend a good chunk of it at our favourite place in Dunedin: Celia’s and Tig’s house. There was time for showers, schoolwork, playtime, food, even more coffee…everthing that happens when 5 adults and 5 kids are in the same place. In the end, Celia came up with the plan to go on a walk at Mt Cargill. It took some time packing snacks, water and whatever the kids needed to go on a walk, but then we were off to a car ride and a walk. The weather was nice, everybody enjoyed to be out and about and the views of Dunedin were quite spectacular. The photos tell most of the story, really.

We were back at Celia’s and Tig’s place just in time to pack up and leave for Janet’s and Scott’s place where we would also spend the night. It was so good to see them again and meet their kids. After a lovely dinner with an astonishing amount of food having been eaten by 4 adults and 5 kids, we got dessert in form of banana bread that their eldest had baked. The two younger of their three girls took quite the liking to the AoE and not long after, they had a make-up party on the top bunk bed.

In the evening, we slipped right back into the good conversations we used to have when all four of us were living in Wellington. Good times were had!

After breakfast the next morning, we said our goodbyes as Janet plans every day very thoroughly, especially the weekends. It reminded me a lot of myself when we’re at home. So many things to do!

For the rest of the Sunday, we got Tig and the two younger kids to join us at St Clair Hot Saltwater pools, while Celia and Charlie went off to train for their big three day hike coming up in April. The pool was very cool, actually pretty warm and it had toys and goggles for the kids to use. Both our kids were IN LOVE with the goggles as they allowed them to dive without the sting in their eyes. So we stayed even longer than our friends, having an extra round of splashing and diving.

Back home at Celia’s and Tig’s, everybody was knackered. A rather quiet evening was had with one more conversation with the adults. I had managed to get through all my pre-prepared lists for the Hocken library in 4 days. Thus, we will leave Dunedin tomorrow after one week here instead of the planned two weeks.

Part 19 – A week in Dunedin

Monday was supposed to be my first day at work…until I checked again and realized that the Hocken Library is closed on Mondays. Thus, we had Monday to explore a little bit of the Otago Peninsula. Dunedin looked quite a bit similar to Wellington when we moved along the harbour (minus the high-rises). Our first stop, for lunch, was a playground next to Macandrew beach. The kids enjoyed the play time (and the ice cream), before we continued to Te Rauone beach where we spent the afternoon and the night freedom camping.

On Tuesday, we had a brief look around Taiaroa Head but couldn’t visit the Royal Albatros Center as now I had to be at the Hocken Library at 10am. After this, I was mostly out for the rest of the week.

Flo: So while Nina slogged away at the Hocken, both kids and I got to explore and go on adventures. We started local, but non-the-less awesome at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum. I remembered it fondly, and the broad selection of exhibits and topics was a hit with the kids as well. That night we cowed from first real rain on our trip right at the heart of town. Dunedin’s Freedom camping policy is awesome.

Another (rainy) day, another museum. Tūhura Otago Museum, a “British Museum” style potpourri of different exhibits. Including the fantastic “Relics” touring exhibition of “Where’s Waldo”-style Lego dioramas built into “relics” of humanity. Plus, a butterfly greenhouse, for some reason. Great fun was had.

The big one came on Thursday – hopping on to the Taieri Gorge Railway on the first sunny day after the rain had passed. The kids were 100% on board (get it?) and had heaps to tell mom, who came to pick us up after coming back to town and because why not, we added a whole steet art walking tour in the afternoon.

On Wednesday and Friday we came back to our friends Celia and Tig’s place to give the kids more chances to hang out (plus ok, maybe some personal hygiene). It was amazing getting the time to hang out. A personal marker for the outstanding quality of people we call friends is how effortlessly we find into a rhythm even after years of not seeing them. One more huge shoutout to them and their amazing tamariki! Our kids will sure remember the time here.

After that full week, we had more of a low key day on Friday, exploring the Dunedin Botanical Garden, catching up on sleep and preparing for a shared evening meal with our friends. The kids were suprisingly engaged in the “plants selected for their fragrence” section.

Part 18 – Getting to Dunedin

After the Milford Sound cruise, Dunedin and my time working there were really on the forefront of my mind. But we still had the weekend to get there! One of the locations on my wishlist was another visit to the Catlins, however that was looking like a stretch from here. Flo and I decided to try it anyway.

We spent a bit more time at the Totara Campground this morning to give the kids some playtime before hitting the road for a long stretch. Lunch was had at the Sandfly cafe in Te Anau and then it also started to rain so we just drove on. A town, another town, heading further south, but not as far south as Invercargill… (our eternal nemesis, once again just skirted).

Quite late we stopped in the Catlins, at Papatowai. The road had been very pretty even in the rain and the beaches looked fantastic. We kitted ourselves with all our rain gear and hit the beach for a beachside walk. It lasted exactly for three waves. That third wave on the long flat expanse was just so incredibly high that we were all caught by surprise. It was thigh-high, water was running into our gum boots, our pants were wet…and we were laughing our butts off. With that, we drove on to a doc site to stay there for the night. The kids made friends with another set of German kids. This family had just emigrated to New Zealand from Germany and they were on the road to try and figure out where they wanted to settle. Good luck to the four of you! 🙂

The next morning, we took a “dry” beach-side walk at Papatowai. It was a lot of fun and absolutely amazing to be out there, pretty much alone. Afterwards, we let the four kids play together till almost lunch time.

For dinner, we had an invitation in Dunedin with our friends Celia and Tig and their family. Enough time to stop at Nugget Point, one of my favourite places. A lighthouse in the Catlins, usually with seals playing in the surf. We didn’t see as many seals as last time but I still enjoyed having shown the place to the kids.

Dunedin…just was a blast. Celia and Tig haven’t really changed. They are still some of the nicest people we know. Plus, the kids just hit it off. We entered their home and the kids were gone. For most of our time here, we don’t have pictures of the great hospitality and lovely company. We just enjoyed it.

Picking up where they left off in the evening

Part 17 – Must Do’s in NZ

Now that all is sorted, we are ready to do the most of the time remaining before heading to Dunedin. As we arrived late last night, we took our time at Kinloch and explored the estuary of the Dart River. Before heading out, Nina and I felt it was time to acknowledge the bravery and generally good behaviour of our Tamariki and present them with their Taonga, their Ponamu necklaces.

After the first 10 km of hoping not to rip Timmy apart on the shoddy gravel road, we were back on tarmak and ready to cover some distance. Almost. Just one more stop at Lake Wakatipu for a splash and Lunch and off we were.

The KM ticked up and the landscape changed. But the most memorable time came late this afternoon. We finally picked up our first hitchhiker, Taiga. A guy from Japan hiking the lenght of New Zealand, he has been walking for over 100 days and almost at the end of his journey. We dropped him off at Te Anau to re-stock his supplies and went off further down the Milford Road to make camp for the night.

After a rougher start, the day at Milford turned out to be an absolute stunner, with brilliant sunshine and reasonably calm seas. We enjoyed the cruise and also the leasurly trip back on the Milford Road. We passed through the tunnel once more and found another splendit DOC campsite along the road. A bit crazy to realise that I still work more than half a day every weekday night throughout this adventure.