Day 4, Accomplished: Dunedin to Invercargill

10:30am

I went to check out around 9:40am and ended up standing around and chatting with the people who run the Sahara Guesthouse and Motel.

It turns out that one of the ladies who cleans the place is originally from Mooloolaba.

Her sister and niece are both working in libraries in or near to Brisbane. Hashtag smallworld, hashtag coincidence.

But now I’m off!

11:30am – Parked my bike at the dairy. Nek minute…

It’s cold. This time I’m dry, but it’s still cold.

I’ve stopped at a dairy in Milton. I ordered a pie off the rack and a flat white, because it’s all they make.

To be honest, I did this just to be able to use the ‘nek minute’ line.

The pie was like any run of the mill servo pie. It’ll do. The flat white? It’s something else.

The first flavour to hit me is the subtle hint of chocolate. No doubt left behind from the last beverage made using whatever machine is behind that roughly plastered, hand finished wall. In fact, there’s a swirl of brown in the froth on top 👌😂

As far as instant coffees go, it’s not so bad. It’s no Nescafé pod, but then this is dairy in Milton that apparently specialises in deep fried chicken combo meals. It’s warming me up and I’m grateful for that.

Ambient temperature is currently 9°C, with a 48kph southerly blowing some serious chill up from the Antarctic.

Time to move on!

I haven’t seen him since he went to…

1pm – Owaka feeling.

Stopped in Owaka because I simply couldn’t miss the famous Teapotland!

I’ve got an hour and 10 yet, until the destination I’m most keen to reach – Curio Bay!

Florence Hill Lookout

As you can tell from this next clip, I really needed a break.

I pulled into a lookout that reminded me of the Point Danger lighthouse area, complete with a Duranbah looking bit of beach down the way.

I promise you there were sheep and ducks in the area, too. You just can’t see any of these things in the video 😬

Waikawa – Museum and information centre.

The day before, I had read about the Waikawa museum and information centre being the place to go to ask about Curio Bay.

What I discovered was a pleasant hub of local knowledge, managed by volunteers from the area on a rotating schedule. Today’s attendant (I really must record names on the spot – I’m so sorry to the wonderful person there, but I’ve forgotten her name 🤦‍♀️) was filling in for her grandmother who had chosen to go off and walk her dog.

I learned about the issues.

I learned about the disruption that introduced pest species like wallabies and ferrets cause and about the government’s plan to eradicate them all by 2050.

I learned about ‘1080’, still in use in the area, in an attempt to eradicate these creatures and the side effects it has on the local wildlife such as native birds.

I also learned about the men and women from the area who served in various wars. Names and faces of those who returned and those who didn’t.

I didn’t stay in Dunedin for the 11am memorial service that was in town. As a half Japanese, half Aussie kid, such services were always awkward for me. I hoped then as I do now, that people bow their heads for the fallen on all sides of conflict.

In the silence of a tiny local museum at the southern end of New Zealand, I stood for a moment, wishing the departed some peace.

Kanakana

Finally, I learned about the kanakana and the steadily decreasing number of this culturally significant fish.

There’s quite often a kanakana frenzy, apparently. Not of the creatures themselves, but rather, people dashing out at midnight to catch them.

When the moon is out in full, somebody may spot a plentiful batch of kanakana stuck to the rocks in a stream nearby. That person will ring (by landline, because ‘we get no cell reception out here’) somebody and that person will ring another until the stream is filled with people catching these lamprey.

I hear they’re quite delicious. Sadly, I couldn’t stick around until the next full moon…

On to Curio Bay!