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Robin’s Birthday Surprise - Dunedin day 2

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 We probably should have taken the hint when the Parkrun volunteer, himself wearing a kneebrace, who was delivering the First Timers briefing this morning,  described it as ‘an arse of a course!’ That should have been our cue to pop straight into the Botanic Gardens cafe and order a coffee.  However, having successfully navigated our way there on a local bus, lured by the thought of a beautiful Parkrun set in a Botanic Garden, just like home, we took his words with a grain of salt and lined up with 295 other participants.  Initially lulled into a false sense of security by two short laps of the lower gardens area, we then crossed the footbridge over the Waters of Leith and began our ascent towards the lookout. And what an ascent it was; steep gravel paths wound through established trees still cloaked in their autumn colours, up steep hills and graduated steps to the lookout area, which it seems was a false summit, as we continued to climb, before heading down the pre...
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Robin’s Birthday Surprise - Dunedin

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 Well, here we are in Dunedin. But how did you get there from Christchurch, I hear you ask?  The fact is, as I had already speculated, the motivation behind my birthday surprise trip, was a Qantas sale which coincided with a scenic NZ train tour!  The perfect recipe for a wonderful surprise trip.  We left the hotel in Christchurch by taxi a little earlier than the appointed time of 06:45 and it wasn’t until we pulled up outside the Christchurch Addington Railway Station, that I knew for sure we were going on a rail adventure.  Following check-in and some people watching while we awaited boarding, we eventually pulled away right on time at 07:45 and journeyed through beautiful sunshine, across the Canterbury Plains before hugging the coast the majority of the way to Dunedin, the huge picture windows affording unhindered views of the vistas around us.  The Southerner, a heritage rail journey between Christchurch and Dunedin, replicates the seaside journey tha...
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Robin’s Birthday Surprise - Christchurch

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 In the series of birthday surprises, the first was that we got to fly Business Class in a very empty plane (30 passengers!) from Melbourne to Christchurch. Apparently the stars had aligned - a Qantas sale (who can pass that up? Certainly not Wallsy!) and an event, still to be revealed, in NZ. I was also presented with sweet treats, champagne, a qantas cap, qantas keyring and a birthday card. How’s that for a series of surprises!?  The second surprise was that we are staying at the gorgeous Adina Heritage Hotel which I had admired last time we were here and staying over the road from this impressive old Government building that is now the Adina. Not only do I get to see inside this time, I get to sleep in one of its spacious studio apartments for two nights. But that was not the only surprise, it was more importantly the fact that we actually managed to get into the hotel at 12:30am!  Initially faced with a locked door, no response to the intercom and our taxi driving off...
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