Call me a show-off, but I love it when friends and family from overseas or up north come and visit Dunedin. It gives me a chance to show-off the town, revisit my favourite haunts and try out some of the tourist activities for myself.
So I was pretty excited when my parents and niece turned up last week. They live in the North Island, but harbour a special place for the south and once again it turned it on with crisp, stunning days.
We hit up all the usual suspects: a delicious coffee at the St Clair pool café, a stroll along the esplanade, a trip to Cadbury World, a trip to Larnach's Castle, a drive to Portobello, a project in my backyard (my dad is a buildaholic), restaurant meals and good times with my three children wearing their grandparents down to an early bedtime each night.
We also managed to get an outing on the Taieri Gorge Railway's Seasider journey. I've always floated around in the surf at Doctor's Point or Purakaunui Beach and wondered what the view would be like from the train tracks that duck in and out of tunnels high up on the cliff face. Well, they are as epic as you'd imagine – and almost fairytale like on the perfect blue day we encountered.
The Seasider takes about 90 minutes to get to Palmerston where you get ample time to scurry down to the bakery to order a famous mutton pie (don't forget the black sauce like we did!). Coming from a lifetime of sheep and beef farming, I was particularly stoked to see my dad's approving smile as he chomped into his first mutton pie. Yep, Palmerston had turned it on.
Thanks to all of you who gave us feedback in our survey – we had an overwhelming response, so thanks! We will share the results with you soon.
Small waves all week in the forecast, but should be some fun in the right nooks along the coastline.
See you at the beach ...
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