We had to make a hasty decision this morning...we had a very wet night at Dunedin and the visibility was very poor, so we decided to cancel our train trip, which was sad, and hot foot for another place to stay. We had leaks all over the place...When we told the camp site reception that we were going to cut our losses (having paid for two nights) and move on hoping for better weather as we drove North. They gave us our money back (where would that happen in UK?)
We set off in very bad weather, fortunately the roads were not too bendy. The rivers and creeks were racing down and there was quite a lot of flooding. We carried on to Shag Point where there are seal and penquins, but they were all out at sea! We had a good break there, David needing a rest from the very wet roads. We carried on to Hampden. We had not heard anything about this place but it looked good and there were signs to see the Moeraki Boulders, so we followed the signs and found an interesting spot. It was still bucketing down with rain so we did not venture on the beach, but they had a cafe and visitors centre which we made for. They say that the boulders are the remains of long ago when an important Maori warrior was shipwrecked on the shore and the boulders are said to be the remains of his cargo. But really they are boulders which have been buried in the silt and mud in the Ice Age and are now gradually being released through erosion of the cliffs.
We then went on to Oamaru which was the funniest place we have been to. It is a Victorian relict that was used by grain merchants and gold rush people. It has many of the original buildings and they are still being used today. One of the buildings is the Steampunk building where this relic of a steam train has been made into a ghost train. Put 2 dollars in a slot and it makes all the right noises and blows steam and flame, we do have a video of this as it was so funny. The town became derelict when the money ran out and the workers moved onto other parts of NZ to find their fortune. It has now been restored to its former glory, well worth the visit.
Our final run was to Timaru where we are staying for the night. We have walked into town and looked around the bay. It is a very pretty place and the bay is now sheltered from all the heavy seas. There were two very bad shipwrecks here in the early 1900's because there was no protection from the very rough conditions. Now they have a sea wall and the area is a calm bay
After a drink in the town we are now back in Enry and everything is dry again. We are off tomorrow to Christchurch. Fortunately the areas that have been badly damaged by the earthquake have been cordoned off so we won't have to be reminded of the devastation (and its still happening with shakes). We hope to do our train ride to Greymouth and back again. At least the weather certainly looks much brighter again.
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