The 1st part of the drive from Te Anau to Dunedin was misty. As the driver, although I knew it was a straight road ahead of us, it was still necessary to pay extra attention to the road when visibility was low.
The expected drive for this stretch was about 3.5hrs. Personally, I felt a little more bored on this stretch of road compared to the others as it was less scenic, so less ‘wow‘ factors for me.
Finally, we reached our farm stay for the day! We happily met up with the farm owners at their home and were shown to our little room (with an attached toilet) next to the garage. It was separated from the main house where the owners stayed so there was privacy yet within close enough proximity such that they could still take care of our needs.
The elderly owners were very friendly and they hosted us in their own living room while we shared with them about our recent wedding as well as our adventure in NZ thus far. They further recommended us places to visit in Dunedin, which was around 15mins drive from the farm.
Bottom left to right: Photo with the owners; our room for the night
Also included in our farm stay experience was the farm tour! We learnt that it was a commercial farm, unlike the family farm we experienced in Perth previously. So, there were machines which could milk up to 40 cows at a time. We then wore the boots provided (I took the pair belonging to the female owner) and hopped into the male owner’s car to get up close to the cows!
There were bundles of hay in preparation for the approaching winter. There were few patches of grass left for the cows. And their cows ate the grass at such fast rate that they have to be moved to another plot of land every day. So that afternoon, we had the chance to observe how our host moved them from 1 plot of land to the other while hubby and I had the honour to guard 1 side of the road each, just in case they decide to stray off. If a cow really came towards me, I think I would have screamed and just waited for help!
Our thoughtful host also shared that he had intentionally left some cows for us to experience moving them from point A to point B. He left the gates opened, created some route for them and told us to follow behind the cows until they reached their destination while he drove the car over to meet us there. Of course, it was exciting! Hubby and I took turns to run after the cows so that they would move faster. And needless to say, our move was a big success!
Fun fact: Those that we ran after are cows (female and hence the milk). Owner said if they were bulls (male), we would have been trampled by them! Do not attempt to run after bulls!!!
After chasing the cows, we decided to head to town. We visited the Cadbury Museum. But because I wasn’t exactly a fan of Cadbury, we did not pay to join their factory tour. We also went to the Steepest Street at Baldwin St. We parked our car at the bottom of the slope and began walking up. Those residents here must be really slim, or at least healthy, since they have to do this every day! The street also attracted many tourists like us and there were some who rammed their car all the way up before enjoying the thrill of the car rolling back down the slope! So, do be careful if you decide to walk up the slope here.
By then, we were famished. We chanced upon a Japanese restaurant and decided to head in for some Asian delights. I would say, it was our comfort food for the trip. Warm and delicious Japanese cuisine to warm our stomachs!
Our thoughtful host left the lights outside our room on so that it was easier for us to find them when the sky has turned dark. We were really thankful for that because it was already challenging enough to locate the farm in the dark, not to mention the house sitting within the farm. From the main road with fast moving cars, we had to turn into a small dirt path before turning in to another fenced road to the house. Had to be really careful here!
Perrine Travels 