back to reality, part one

Well, I’m back in Wellington. And after a fairly long day of travel I’m just itching to get back to work tomorrow. Actually, I’m feeling fairly refreshed so work should go down okay. And I’d run out of money anyway!

So, Dunedin was nice - nothing like Edinburgh apart from some street names and few other things like a tartan shop and a statue of Rabbie Burns. No bagpipers were present. As well as hunting for Scottishisms, I went on an eco-tour and failed to see a Royal Albatross. However, I did manage to see Sea Lions, Seals and some stop-motion animated Yellow-Eyed Penguins. Also went round the Botanical Gardens, pottered about, took far too many photos, etc etc.

Today the Magic Bus took me from Dunedin to Christchurch, via the Moeraki Boulders, which are weird nearly-spherical lumps of rock that are being revealed in the hillside and falling onto the beach as the sea erodes the coastline. No-one seems to be sure how on earth these things formed. There is a theory, but nobody seems all that convinced. People speak or write about the theory in much the same way as one might use a pair of kitchen tongs to pick up an undergarment of mysterious origin.

After some pretty reasonable countryside, I ended up in Christchurch for a few hours. I had felt like I’d ‘done Christchurch’ over Christmas, but as it turned out I’d missed quite a lot. Had a good wander around the gardens, the arts centre and generally tried to fill up the memory card in my camera. Not much shopping though, as it is ANZAC day (rather like Remembrance Day in the UK, including the red poppies).

Eventually, it got dark, and there was nowhere else to go but to the airport to catch the ridiculously short flight back to Wellington. It’s been a really very good break, and I got to do and see all the things I most wanted to. Of course, there are quite a few things I’ve missed, but I expect I’ll be back here someday. Having said that, there’s quite a few other places I’d like to see too. Like Swindon.