March 4
Wellington to Lawrence
It was dull & drizzly when I left Jane & Robert's. I waited for about 5 minutes for the bus, which took me to Kilbirnie, where the driver threw me off to await the Airport bus. I spent 5 minutes at the wrong stop - the one would that have taken me back into Wellington - before realising the error of my ways and crossing the road.
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Worried that I would be late, I waited for about another 5 minutes before the bus arrived and I arrived at the airport with at least 10 minutes to spare.
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I waited in the lounge, watching the rain falling and then watching the rainbow appearing around the plane (not ours) that was parked outside. When it was our turn to board, we stood around in the drizzle before climbing the steps and taking our seats.
Left: A plane and almost a rainbow |
After that, nothing of excitement happened until we landed in Dunedin about 15 minutes early. I found the lady from the rental car company after a bit of a search & she escorted me to an elderly Corolla and sent me on my way.
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There was some low cloud hanging around the airport, it was still very dull and intermittently damp. I drove for about an hour to Lawrence, found the house & had a pleasant lunch.
In the afternoon we drove a few kilometres to Gabriels Gully, site of the first large gold strike in NZ. Barbara assured us that the walk was neither very long nor very steep. "Yeh Right" as the advert says.In a growing volume of drizzle, we climbed steadily upwards, past lots of berries and autumn leaves until we were able to see good views across the gully. We then descended to the valley floor again, doing our best not to slip on the wet and muddy leaves. We passed various old caves where the explosives were stored and signs of the blue rock in which the gold was found. |
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Feeling suitably exercised, we stopped in one of the cafes in Lawrence for an afternoon coffee and then returned to the comforts of a log fire and a view of the rain falling outside.