Trip to Dunedin

The birthday girl.

Monday 18 June

The Nuggets

After birthday wishes to Shelby we made our way to The Nuggets and the lighthouse. I had been there several times in recent years on school trips but Stephen was unfamiliar with the road which is both gravel and narrow. Without local knowledge it is not a place you would take a 9 metre bus towing a small car. The area has been well developed in recent years and there is heaps of space for parking and turning. The weather was still grey and overcast with the occasional passing shower. As we had a cuppa our luck was with us and the weather cleared. Well rugged up we made the trek out to the lighthouse. This walk is well worth the effort. The views are magnificent.
Another cuppa on the main street of Kaka Point and then we headed towards Milton. Our NZMCA Directory told us there was a camp site at Chrystall’s Beach - out from Milton.  We unfortunately didn’t keep to our unwritten rule of making camp before dark, and as we were heading towards Chrystall’s Beach sunset was almost on us. The roads were gravel and because of the recent rain very muddy. The directions were perfect until we got to where we thought we should be. Which way?? Left or right. The directory certainly didn’t tell us. Murphy’s law - we went right and ended up at the end of the track heading into a farmer’s private property. There was nothing to do but detach the car and back the bus out the 1km or so. In the meantime the cocky had come along the road and suggested that the left turn had some cribs and that may provide some parking room. Since we had the car off we drove down to take a look and found a great wee spot - hard ground and right by the sea. But a lesson learnt - not to be out looking for a parking spot just on dark.

Tuesday 19 June
The morning showed we had chosen well - but not thanks to our ‘Directory’ or ‘Bible’ as it has become affectionately known.
We decided that we would stay another night which meant no deadlines for finding the next camping spot and a chance to just relax. We had a long walk on the beach and through the cribs that were a little further along the road. Stephen was also able to restock our ‘wood supply’ from wood lying around the area.

Parked at Chrystall's Beach, 20km east of Milton.







The vehicles including the bikes, were the casualty of this camp - the mud was caked thick onto every surface imaginable. It is times like this that the water blaster would have come in handy but then how many toys do you take with you when living on the road!!!!

Wednesday 20 June
Brighton was where we thought we would make for today. According to the ‘Bible’ there were numerous parking spots along this piece of road, south of Dunedin and on the Southern Scenic Highway.  We made our way out to State Highway 1 just north of Milton and navigated our way through the traffic to Lake Waihola. Stephen doesn’t like driving on roads where the traffic is heavy as his preferred speed is around 70 - 80 km/hour so consequently he is pulling over constantly to let the faster traffic through.
There are certainly lots of parking spots along this stretch of road - the trick was to know far enough in advance to know when to pull over. All too often we drove past what looked like a suitable one and turning back is not an option. We got lucky about 4km before Brighton and pulled into an ideal camping place for us - sheltered both from the road and the prevailing winds. 

The three photos show the view from the bus, the bus in desperate need of a wash and the bull seal who tried to frighten us off his beach.

Thursday 21 June
Our destination today was Dunedin but first it was a good long walk along the beach. A surprise visitor was a large bull seal who found his way out of the water to give us a fright. How dare we walk on his patch. 
Some free range eggs from the stall just along from where we were parked and it was off to the city. We decided we needed a few home comforts especially to do both our the washing of our clothes and the vehicles. Dunedin has a fantastic camp at St Clair but they certainly know how to charge. No wonder so many of our budget tourist campers are reluctant to use these facilities. With a basic charge of $39 and $7 to wash and dry our washing it wasn’t a cheap night.
Stephen had a few bits and pieces that we wanted from Mitre 10 so we took the car down Andy Bay Road in search of the said store. Our big mistake was going after school was out. And this is a small city!!! Give us a small rural town any day. After Mitre 10 we thought we would try the supermarket. It was soooo busy we drove through the carpark (no parks in sight) and headed back to our bus. We would make do with what we had!!