SOUTHERN ODYSSEY

I hate to say this when so many people involved in the international tourist industry are facing such tough times – but it’s nice to have our country back again! I have spent much of the past month

getting around as much of the lower part of the South Island as I can and have loved it. No overcrowding and no rushing to get camping spots before they fill up. Less traffic. Less impatience.

Christmas Day was spent in Skippers at the end of the dramatically breathtaking road behind Queenstown that scares the pants off so many people. I thought we might be alone – but there were three other vehicles there when we arrived on Christmas Eve. So much for bright ideas!

We spent a couple of days there with a day trip up the adjacent Branches Road – possibly the most breathtaking and easily drivable road in New Zealand.

However, we fooled the crowds on New Year’s Eve and found a remote spot known only to God, deep in the mountains behind St Bathans. Alas, the weather didn’t play ball and there was a chill wind that kept us in our winter jackets as we saluted the New Year.

But these were two-day trips. For our first real expedition of 2022 we decided on a great southern loop – Oamaru to Oamaru via Central Otago, Western Southland, Invercargill and back to Oamaru via the Catlins and Dunedin. There was no real planning of the route and in typical, disorganised fashion, we followed noses, whims and interesting looking tracks and trails.

Waaaal – that’s not really true. While my part of it may have been a bit loose in the planning, not so when it came to packing the Nissan. Audrey’s Mother had dotted her i’s, crossed her t’s to such a degree of ‘onlywhat’s-needed’ you’d have thought we were on an Everest Expedition. She reckoned the