On Sunday we drove off down the East Coast to the Moeraki Boulders, a set of huge circular stones which lie on a beach 40km south of Oamaru. The weather was a bit overcast, but I think it added to the atmosphere of the place. It was only a short stop though, and so we continued on to Dunedin.
Dunedin is the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, with a population of about 115,000. It was founded by Scottish settlers and its name comes from the Gaelic translation of Edinburgh. We only had about three or four hours in the city, so I only managed to have lunch, visit the Cadbury chocolate factory and update this on the Internet. Unfortunately the Cadbury factory wasn't working as usual because it was a Sunday, so there was a more restricted tour which wasn't as good as I had maybe expected. Nevertheless, I got some chocolate at factory prices and we all met up again to proceed to our next novelty stop.
Baldwin Street in Dunedin is the world's steepest street, and we stopped for five minutes to admire its magnificence. From top to bottom, its angle is 19 degrees, but because it's curved, the steepest point is more like 40. It's fairly discrete, with only a small sign pointing out its record breaking credentials, but its novelty is entertaining nonetheless.
From there it was on to Kaka Point on the Catlins Coast, where we camped for the night. Before bed, we let off some fireworks on the beach left over from the previous day. I found it maybe a little ironic that they celebrate Bonfire Night, when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, even when the even predates New Zealand being discovered by Europeans by about 50 years.
