Dunedin/Christchurch/Mt Cook

Glad to hear Derby went well, retreads and all. I think I was cruising along the Otago Peninsula as Barbaro pulled away down the stretch.
I got the bus from Q'town to Dunedin, which was another lovely drive. Got into Dunedin in the evening and had an easy night in the hostel. Dunedin was founded by the Scots, who were looking to get away and set up their own religious society. It contains the only castle in NZ, and they charge a pretty penny ($20 NZD) just to get on the grounds and take a gander (didn't go). Dunedin is a fair city. Has nice town center and is easy to get around, but it's spread out and I found it to be pretty quiet. There's a big university there, but there weren't too many backpackers around. But, there are things to do. While there, I did get the opportunity to swing the sticks and fire an 87 (par 71) at the Chisholm Golf Glub, a links course that has hosted events on the Australasian PGA Tour. It was a nice course with good greens that could have been made a lot tougher if they grew the rough out. I hired a nice set of irons, Tommy Armour 845 Silver Backs, that had a good bit of knock in them. Best shot of the round was my approach to #6. Fired a 9 iron from 135 metres and staked it 8 ft, and finished it off by hitting the birdie. And trust me, you've never seen a scuffed up Top Flight XL 3000 stop like that ball did.
The next day I hired a car so I could get around the peninsula and see the albatross colony and just take in the views. It was a bit tough at first getting used to everything being on the opposite side, but I managed. 2 Japanese girls working at the hostel wanted to come along as well, so the 3 of us set off on a nice, sunny day around the Otago peninsula. We saw the albatross, with a wingspan of 3 metres but no penguins and went to the castle but refused to pay $60 between the 3 of us. As the saying goes: There is nothing free in New Zealand.
Although, we did go to, and walked up the steepest street in the world (gratis). Walking part not my idea.
Then I got a bus up to Christchurch, another big city on the east coast. Definitely the flatest and most uninteresting of all my drives. Christchurch is ok. Just another city really. Has some museums, but I was told by some brits that they're "shite" and "kips", so I saved my money and had a walk around the botanical gardens instead. With my time dwindling away, I decided to hire a car again and head off to Mt Cook and Arthur's Pass. The drive to Mt Cook was nice, but unfortunately cloudy. When I got there, low hanging clouds/fog prevented the mountains from being seen. But, the next day, it cleared up and offered great views of the area. Arthur's Pass was also nice. It's about 2 hrs west of CHCH and is the main way of crossing from east to west coast thru the Alps.
Next up up: hangin' w/ Henry in Syd.
Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

Cheers,
James