Wow what a week. First of all let’s get the Aurora in first! Exactly 5 months later we get an epic display, it was quite different from May. The colours were harder to see (thanks to the moon) but the amazing dance show was spectacular. We put on some classic music and just stared in awe!

Our week got changed as it went along. The builder did his back in so we won’t be starting until till next week now. This did mean we could get a lot done in Herbert and go away for a trip south.

We got all the citrus trees in the ground. We also got all of the walnuts on the other side. Cory was a major help getting the walnuts in! We will have a lot of delicious fruit in our future. I finished sealing the bar leaner and school bench. Painted the IBC tank. Rowan fixed the awning on Camele and did a lot of other jobs. It feels really good to be getting all this done.

On Thursday we headed south. We had quite a day. We had a meeting with Brenda our house designer. A few other small jobs in Ōamaru before we got back to Herbert and packed up Camele to go. On our way south we stopped at a few places we have wanted to visit for months. It is the usual scenario “next time, we have a lot to do today.” First stop was Otago Fresh Milk. Absolutely delicious milk and we got to pay the lambs and the calves. Next stop was Evansdale cheese and Matanka meats. Our final visit to a business was the famous Bowling Club in Dunedin. They do $4 main meals, $3 desserts. Everything is vegan or vegetarian. Extremely tasty, great for the community. They give away hundreds of meals to those in need in the area. We were well impressed. It was fairly early when we got there and the line was long. I am sure it gets longer at dinner time. I can’t recommend the place more, if you’re in Dunedin get your butt there. Cheap meal, pay double and pay it forward. We had our dinner in Waihola and stayed down at the Toko Mouth Domain. You can see the damage from the flooding everywhere!

Friday, we stayed as close to the coast as we could from Toko and decided to go inland to Balclutha to cross the river and then head out to the sea again. We did not make it all the way as a lovely farmer told us the road ahead would not be passable with our camper. Unfortunately that means we can’t quite get the Clutha river mouth, but we get pretty close. In Balclutha we get some breakfast and fill our tanks with water. We head to Kaka Point from there. We haven’t done this part of the area before, we get out to the Nugget Point Lighthouse and walk out to check it out. Absolutely stunning day and the walk was a good stretch of the legs. We needed up stopping at Tunnel Hill and Barrs Falls too. The day disappeared so we thought we better get ourselves to Waipapa Point. There is supposed to be a spectacular display of the Aurora tonight. It did not let us down. Wow it was an incredible sight! The movement was fantastic, I couldn’t keep up with how fast it was changing. A fantastic end to a fantastic day.

On Saturday, we didn’t go far. We went out to Curio Bay. Rowan went to the beach I went into the forest walk. By the time I finished Rowan was coming back. I planned on meeting him down at the beach. He said he was mobbed by sandflies and it wasn’t pleasant. So we headed to Slop Point. We didn’t bother walking all the way out, we have been at the southern point before. We headed out further and considered staying the night there but decided to go back to Weir Beach where it should be a good spot to stay. The weather was uninspiring, the decision was made to have an easy afternoon camped up.

Sunday is a day of rest. Rowan and I lazed about until the afternoon. It was wet and pretty gross out there. I invented a German lady in but she politely declined. She is travelling NZ in her car. By the afternoon we hadn’t heard from the builder so we took off to Piano Flat. This is a hidden gem I had heard about a while ago and wanted to explore. It is a well kept secret or something like that! Beautiful forests and a lovely river. All DOC owned and well maintained. We found a quiet spot to camp up and it felt like we were in the river. Tomorrow we will head to Queenstown and hang out there a few days.

Way out of Piano Flat I get signal and a message. Builder is coming tomorrow. Bugger, we make the decision to head home. We head back to Gore and make our way north. We arrive in Blueskin just after 3pm to pick up two walnut trees. By the time we get back to Herbert I don’t have the energy to put them in the ground. A