Akaroa to Dunedin

Last night became very windy with rain in the middle of the night. Winds were gusting to 80 kph with rain mixed with sleet and hail. Made sleeping under a metal roof a little difficult (about 95% of the roofs are metal here). It was only 8 C when we got up so we had to find our long pants for the first time in several weeks. The harbour was really kicked up by the time we left with the moored boats taking a real lashing. It was difficult to stand and take the picture.

We had a fairly long drive today so we got underway at around 9:30. I thought I would try to give you a bit of an idea of what driving on the roads here is like so I did a little time lapse video of the first half hour of the drive. Note the wind blowing in the first few seconds before we leave the parking lot.

http://youtu.be/qZx8SHlMhYw

Here is our route for today....

After we got out to the main highway things straightened out quite a bit. Most of the drive was through farm country with the mountains in the background. A lot of them were snow capped after last night's storm. Even though this is the major north-south route, not a lot of places to pull over for a scenic view, just sheep, sheep, sheep and cows interspersed with crops. Sort of reminded me of driving Hwy 7 through Ontario farm country 50 years ago (without the sheep).

There are not a lot of attractions along this stretch but all of the tour guides mention the Moeraki Boulders. We did a quick diversion and parked in the designated lot for a 10 minute walk down the beach to see them. The wind was still blowing at about 50 kph. These are a collection of large spherical boulders scattered along the beach like a bunch of marbles.

As soon as I finished taking these photos, a squall moved in with pelting rain and 70 kph winds. We could barely make it back to the car against the wind. Luckily we had our GoreTex jackets on but our pants were soaked.

We found our apartment and again, it is on the hill near the downtown. A newly renovated part of a house that is very well appointed.

After settling in, we walked downtown (emphasis on the "down" part). Today is a National Holiday, Waitangi Day. Hence just about everything was shut down but we did manage to find a noisy pub with good food. Going back home was a little taxing after filling with food, a flight of 137 stairs followed by three blocks of steep uphill.

The sun was just setting and here is the view from the end of our street.

Tomorrow is supposed to be back in the mid 20's and sunny so we are looking forward to touring the city.