15th Dec - Dunedin to Milton

I was obvious that I really needed to sleep to fight off the cold and catch up a bit on sleep as I woke up at 7ish when I heard the others up and about and then went back to sleep and woke up at 11.30! Felt much better then but still not 100%. Chatted with Jenny and her friend over breakfast and coffee and then biked into Dunedin to have a look round and post my visa applications and some other paper work things. It had been a sunny morning but it had clouded over by midday.

I can understand why they say that Dunedin is the Scottish town in NZ. The whole area really reminded me of Scotland. All of the streets are named after Scottish places: "Forfar Rd", "Kirrimuir Street". There are some nice old buildings - but unfortunately as the day was cold and gray it was not the best time to see the city.




By the time I had got my jobs done, had a look round and bike back to Jenny and Adrian's it was 3.30 and I got on the road by 4. I had checked on google maps for the route to Milton and it had said it was only 55km - easy to do by 6.30ish. However, it turned out that bikes are not allowed on part of the most direct route there and the route along the coast was very lovely but very hilly and 75km! The pass from the coast inland was a really long climb but good views. There really are a lot of sheep in NZ!

On the way I was stopped by Sophie and her Mum (Melissa). They had seen the stocking on the back of my bike and they very kindly donated some chocolate :-) It was great to stop and chat for a while and the chocolate did not last long in the stocking.








I got to Kerry's in Milton about 7.30. He kindly cooked us a meal and we had a good old natter over a few glasses of wine and beer. He has a great sense of humor! I love meeting people on couch surfing. So far everyone that I have met has been really welcoming and friendly. Kerry has done a lot of traveling in the past and is happy for people to visit as they pass through. Who knows I might even see him again over the Christmas/New Year period as he is staying in the same area. Hope so :-)