(2015/02/04-05) …warmed up, another day with a lot of driving was on the agenda, to head down to Dunedin. While driving there wasn’t much interesting to see from inside the car. A lot of farmer fields, flat areas and road constructions. Of course there where sometimes these brown signs, advertising some sights, but driving alone in the car and still having enough km to drive i kept on driving. During a short lunch stop at the sea, where i got some visitors, i used Foursquare instead of the LP guide because they show pictures of the sights, i found the Moeraki Boulders which i passed and where just a few km away. As common for easy accessible sights, there where lots of tourists on the beach taking pictures and it was difficult to get my own without people on it. The second most app i used on my phone was the weather report for the next days, trying to find a good timeframe for my hike to the Mueller Hut and stay there for one night. It also predicted the temperatures for the next nights, which let me cancel my thoughts about having another night in the tent and i booked a night in a hostel in Dunedin.
Arrived in Dunedin at the evening ,i discovered the city by feet which was totally worth but the amount of sights wasn’t that high. Later in the Hostel i hanged out with two other girls in the kitchen and talked about what todo on the next day. Speight’s Brewery and Cadbury Chocolate Factory tour was offered as an combo and i thought it would be a good idea todo this on the next day, based on the weather report and having something different instead of driving all day long. Alexandra advertised her Kepler Track hiking trip continuously and i really started to think about real hiking again and may join her or on other track, because they are so frequent used that some huts on the trail are pre-booked about a half a year in advance.
The next day we started the tour with the chocolate factory Cadbury, a better choice to start the day first which chocolate and then with the Speights Brewery tour. I thought first, okay no again another brewery tour, but this one was the best i ever had. The tour was worth to see it, they had lots of stories and things to visit. Even the tour guide was very funny and made lots of jokes. Even when i asked why they put sugar in the beer, he answered with a question, “Why do you put sugar in your coffee?”. Okay. that’s not exactly the same. Yes, Speights is a license brewery and they need sugar, because of faster fermentation…(Why do the Kiwis don’t have this time, when they have it on different other things?). Finally the tour ended in the Tour Pub and he opened the beer tap with “Please, help your self”. These was definitely the best brewery tour with almost the best ending 🙂 One other german guy, was so much drinking and he hided himself in the pub so he could drink more and more. His friends and me, already outside, talked to the tour guide to distract him so the hidden guy could drink a vew more beer. I would have loved to join him, but i had to drive on to my next stopover for the night, because the hostel was booked out for this night. Thanks to Alexandra and Yasmin for the fun with them on the tour.
Last but not least i visited the steepest street in the world, which wasn’t far away. Must be annoying for the people who live there, lots of tourists walking and driving up and down. As the rain started i got in my car and drove north into the direction of Queenstown. I found a free campground, Bendigo, on the Lake Dustan in front of the Mount Pisa, which top was covered in light snow. For dinner i made the special potatoes but couldn’t finish outside, because a heavy wind and rain started, and i had to move into the tent to finish and eat it…