On Monday we went to the museum, sorted out our flat tyre, went to Bluff (pictures below) and had a swim before our dinner of Bluff Oysters followed by Blue Cod fish'n'chips. Now they tell me these oyster thingys are aphrodisiacs and i dont know how that works but i think i'd rather manage on my own thankyou very much. That said, i was quite committed to my new tasting experience and managed to eat 9 RAW OYSTERS! But i don't class them in my list of favourable delicacies. Give me mussels in cream and garlic any day. (Although that is likely to have the opposite effect to an aphrodisiac! haha). We slept in the car that night by the ocean in Riverton. The most awesome storm came in from the sea over the top of us. It lasted for ages and we weren't entirely sure if it was safe to be in the car...so i texted my lovely friend Ruth who is always reliable enough to expect a reply from....could she find out if it was safe or not....helpfully she replied immediately. Unhelpfully, the reply was this: 'I don't really know but they said on 999 one time that you should get out of the car, take off all jewellery and stay away from trees.' For some reason at the time this caused unspeakablke amusement and considerable laughter. Thanks Ruth. Anyway, the storm passed, we were fine, and I slept well. Can't say the same for Hannah, but when you're as committed to sleep as I am you learn to sleep anywhere!

Tuesday we took a coastal drive to Gore and on to Hannah's beloved Millers Flat (pictured). It was lovely to see where she spent her summer working on this massive farm in the middle of nowhere. Her boss Dougal McDougal gave us a great tour all round the extensive 8.5 thousand acres it covers during which time we saw some of the 11,000 sheep he rears. Plus cattle. Plus horses. Quite the operation. His lovely wife also made us a yummy chicken dinner. We went on from there to Cromwell ... famous in the Goldrush times over here, and walked round an old mine and the village. The next day Hannah went on a 7 hour bus journay to Christchurch so that I could have the car to carry on travelling. She then had to fly to Wellington, stay overnight, bus it up to Palmerston North and then cycle miles to work on the farm. VERY BIG THANKYOU :o)