Following the East Coast Road North

Sunday 6 April

Time to move on again - after a pretty sunrise attempt, the clouds settled in as we took SH1 along a surprisingly hilly route towards Oamaru. Dunedin Holiday Park was a slightly disappointing location - it opened in 1925 and has operated continuously since then - but you got the feeling that they did a refurb for its 50th anniversary, but not much has changed since then. There were odd murals and posters all around the site and on the cabins, but many of the jokes were dated and somewhat misogynist. The location was great, but unless we need power, we will probably seek out an alternative campground next time we visit Dunedin.

Heading along SH1, we were lured in (again) by a sign for a “cheese factory” but this one was even weirder than the last (thought we did at least get to purchase some cheese - verdict to follow). Evansdale was the first artisan cheese company in New Zealand, established in 1977 - and it turns out Auntie Shona (one of Louis' dad's younger sisters) worked there back in the day and met her husband Jack there too. It was clearly once a huge and thriving industrial complex with many buildings across a large acreage - but now 95% of it has fallen into derelict disrepair which was sad & haunting.

Waikouaiti, just along the road, was much more happening with a Sunday market, a funky second hand shop & coffee for Louis. The market was an eclectic mix of crafts and creations - I was particularly taken with a stall run by a Maori guy selling traditional jewellery - I bought myself a pair of paua shell earrings like the ones on the bottom left below. One young woman had a stall full of 3D printed creatures including a 1.5m long dragon which apparently took 3 days to print. They were fascinating, but I am not sure they will find a market in small town South Otago?

Moving along we hit the coast again near Shag Point and parked up to grab some lunch from Banjo’s fridge. Got chatting to an old fella and his dog Mac who he travels with in his motorbike sidecar ❤️

Lovely walk along the beach that shares a geological inheritance with the Moeraki Boulders beach then pressed on towards Oamaru. I dibbled my toes for Debbie and the sea was still surprisingly temperate - which makes me happy as I don't like wearing shoes on beaches so the longer I can tolerate bare feet on a beach, the happier I am.

The seaweeds along the way were magnificent - bull kelp strands glowing in the sun, their chunky yellow stalks and rock holding roots creating a contrast with the lantern like bladder kelp with its coral like roots.

We’d booked a couple of nights at the Old Bones Lodge POP on Beach Road which turned out to be fab - I think we may stay an extra night or two! The Lodge houses 8 luxury rooms, there are 6 caravan/moho spaces across the way, and best of all - 6 gas fired spa pools scattered around the property in total privacy. For us it was a perfect stop as we needed power and the rate was just $30 per night. We went to sleep under a starry sky with the sounds of the ocean pounding just a few metres away.