The Land Before Time

The day starts pretty early when you sleep on a boat. First, at about 6am, the generator starts (incidentally, that also means the toilet will once again be flushable – an important point, and, I suspect, the rock upon which many a relationship has dashed itself to pieces). Then the anchor is hauled up, which when you’re anchored in a fjord with sides that go straight down 40 metres, involves the winding of quite a lot of noisy anchor chain. Finally, the engine coughs into life, and you’re off. I consider myself to be pretty adept at sleeping, but if you can sleep through all that, you’re a more accomplished sleeper than I.

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Dunedin Bonus Feature: A Majestic Murder

While in Dunedin, we stayed for two nights in accommodation located on the beach in a suburb called St Clair, in a building proclaiming itself to be MAJESTIC MANSIONS. As a lover of Agatha Christie from a very young age, it immediately occurred to me as the perfect spot for an unlikely amateur detective to solve a murder.

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Lake Tekapo

Leaving Christchurch behind, yesterday we set out for Lake Tekapo. We’d been driving along for a while when suddenly, out of nowhere, we turned a corner and someone dropped a whole pile of huge snow-covered mountains in front of the car. It was pretty unexpected to see them with so much snow this late in the year – we knew there would be mountains, but I guess we hadn’t really thought about how big they actually were.

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The Golfing Guide to Christchurch

Disaster movies always have a bunch of cities being destroyed, but then once the aliens/asteroid/sharknado have been dealt with, the hero is reunited with their family and the credits roll. You never see the aftermath when the city has to be rebuilt. Well, we’re in Christchuch, and we’re seeing it now. And obviously the best way to see that is through mini-golf.

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