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NZ - Blog 1 - 1st Dec 2022
Barely a week since returning to Sheffield from Andalusia, I set off to South Island New Zealand. A rather predicted protracted flight of nearly 30 hours. I’m greeted at Christchurch airport, kindly, by Hamish, and within just over three hours I’m reunited with Becky, in Oamaru. Hard for it to sink in at first, with each saying, “what you doing here?!” 
Feeling surprisingly (relatively) recovered the following morning, I still hadn’t seen the star of the show! Sienna, was just surfacing, “mi nieta graciosa” (my beautiful granddaughter) 
and what a lovely beautiful baby / young child she is….walking into her room, with Mum cradling her, seeing her in flesh for the first time, I became quite emotional, she really was lovely….well done Hamish and Becky! Being a Sunday, Hamish and Bex were free, so they took me into Oamaru, for my first viewing of downtown. It annihilated my expectation, mainly I think, created by Becky inadvertently underplaying it…but I was so impressed…it was like an idealistic film set, with heritage limestone (Whitestone) architecture, both small and grandiose; independent shops from days of yore, the coast, headland and harbour…but there was much more.
Cliched, but a “quirkiness” clearly describes the feel…. expressed by the Victorian scape, the bohemian and creative influx, contemporary artist’s exhibitions, whisky and beer brewing….but most of all the “Steampunks”, boldly celebrating the past and the future, with the ethos “tomorrow as it used to be”….and there’s the penguins!
Every night at dusk, several hundred Blue Penguins return from their fishing trip back home…and everyone is so chilled and friendly.
We had brunch, at a cool cafe (one of many to choose from) that reflected the town, The Collective, on the enticing Harbour Street…after which we walked around the harbour to the penguin grandstand, viewing the seals and the local shag colony, walking passed the children’s playground, also designed in a rather quirky Dali like style, they just had to be on acid! 
Adjacent the park by the harbour we viewed the finish line, of one of New Zealand’s celebrated cycle trails, the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail, from the slopes of Mount Cook to the coast. In total over 300 kilometres, mainly off road, of course added to the immediate bucket list!
, and also was a whaling station …but when larger ships were required, it hit a decline.]Later in the afternoon, I decided on a 2 hour spin on my bike, just 35 miles, that ended up being more like 2.5 hours….no one told me about the hills! Super steep in Oamaru, in fact Warren Street (the abode)…is on an 18% climb. Planned a loop into the hinterland, which I will explore more later, as it was rather misty and cold (went below 7C)….returned along the stunning coastal road to the south, viewing the South Pacific….more on that to follow…
Let the discovery begin….
    Watching England in the World Cup! |     |
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