Howdy there.

Tuesday today and we are now in Balclutha (which apparently translates as Little Clyde).
All the streets are named after places near Glasgow and the west of Scotland although I am pleased to say that there the similarity ends. It seems quite a pleasant and peaceful wee town and I have yet to see any drunks strolling down the street carrying a bottle of Bucky and a Kebab (though Aoifa is planning on having a few tonight so that could yet change).

I have to say once again how friendly everyone is over here. Aoifa is especially welcome when the locals hear that she is a Munster girl and people do not hesitate to come up and chat to you or invite you to join them for a drink.

On Monday - after 3 days of sightseeing, chilling out and fantastic hospitality from our hosts in Akaroa we headed due south through some fairly unforgettable wee Towns including Asburton and Timaru (think glenrothes without the bowling alley).

We stopped in a spot called Oamaru which again, is not the bonniest but is famous for its' penguin sanctuary so at night we travelled to a spot where you can watch a colony of penguins swim back to the shore and waddle home to their nests, stopping briefly oputside the nest to feed their young. That was afantastic experience if bloody freezing.

Today we set off early and continued south travelling along the gorgeous coastal road and through some gorgeous wee spots including Moearki (which is famous for Fish Restaurant which apparently some boy called Rick Stein -no relation to Jock I am told - rates as one of the best in the world and a set of ancient, Boulders with strange patterns on them which have formed on the beach) and then a spot called Shag Point (yes we got the obligatory photo with the sign in the background) where we strolled on to the beach and found ourselves less than 10 feet away from a colony of grey seals.

After that we headed on to Dunedin. It is strange visting a place where all the major streets are named after streets or places in Edinburgh. It seems that most Kiwis in the Otago region have some sort of Scottish ancestry and many of them can tell you their clan names and the part of Sotland that heir family originate from. One has yet to buy nme a beer yet though (maybe they do have Scottish roots after all). There is not a great deal to do in Dunedin but we dida bit of shopping, visited Burns' statue and had a look roungd Carisbrook Stadium which is surprisingly small.

Thats all for now.

Take care

Doug and Aoifa