Thursday 26th February 2004, Day 166/366 - Timaru, New Zealand to Dunedin, New Zealand.

Around Timaru there are lots of instances of Maori rock art. We took a trip round to a few of them. It was nice to be off the beaten track, but unfortunately the art wasn't always clearly visible and in some cases had been graffitied and vandalised.

Next stop was Oamaru where we went to see the penguins, had a walk around the cliffs and down to the rocky beach.

The drive from Oamaru to the Moeraki Boulders was more stunning than the best bits of the Pacific Coast Highway in California. The Moeraki Boulders are like giant marbles that in one of those freaks of nature the ocean has eroded away. They are pretty spectacular.

We continued down to Dunedin where we found a room in the very pikey Statesman Hotel. It was one of those sleazy dives above a bar, but was pretty cool because I shared a beer with the English bar man, who happened to be a big Tottenham and cricket fan.

Had dinner in the Hungry Frenchman and one noticeable difference since I've seen in New Zealand is the slow service in restaurants. Tipping is not considered normal in New Zealand. Maybe that is a factor.