Hj. Ahmad: THE GREAT ESCAPE: DAY 4 - 8: GERALDINE TO DUNEDIN VIA PALMERSTON

...After spending precious time in the small town of Geraldine, we then drove to Dunedin estimated about 233km in 3 hours drive. We managed to pass through several beautiful towns like Orari, Temuka, Timaru, Waimate, Glenavy, Moeraki, Palmerston, before our final destination...Dunedin.

We didn't stop at Moeraki and witness the Legendary Boulders, but we indeed stop by at Palmerston to fill up gas and shop for groceries.

Well, like all of our stops, di Palmerston ini juga kami tidak waste our chances to mini-explore pekan kecil ini. Terdapat deretan kedai runcit dan butik-butik kecil menjual pelbagai barangan harian dan cederamata. Saya percaya laluan ini juga menjadi antara laluan kegemaran pengembara seperti kami.

Kak Mah sempat mengajak saya mencari kedai runcit yang menjual barangan makanan dan pisau untuk memotong buah Kiwi. Untuk mereka yang belum mengenali Kak Mah lagi melalui postings saya terdahulu, ya...Kak Mah adalah hantu Kiwi dan mendapatkan pisau pemotong kiwi adalah sangat penting baginya.

Alhamdulillah kami berjaya mendapatkan sedikit barangan makanan seperti baked beans and eggs serta pisau pemotong buah. Kak Mah juga sempat menggunakan haggling skills dia dalam mendapatkan harga murah bagi sepaket pisau pemotong buah (10 pisau di dalamnya) yang diperbuat daripada plastik iaitu kurang dari NZD 2.. Hmmm, quite a bargain. Bravo! Cheers! Cheers!

Kami juga sempat melawat beberapa local shops and small boutiques dan antaranya sempat memasuki kedai owned by an old lady whom barely heard us entering the shop in which selling hand made knitted item....made by her and her ONLY! We didn't buy anything but still managed to struck a friendly conversations with her. Wanita berumur tersebut sedang bermain SUDOKU ketika kami memasuki kedai beliau dan beliau meminta maaf kerana tidak menyedari kehadiran kami. Tambahan pula beliau mengalami masalah pendengaran dan bermain SUDOKU mampu menajamkan minda beliau diwaktu usianya itu. Mantaplah!

Sejurus selepas itu, kami menuju ke Dunedin yang mengambil masa lebih kurang 42 minit iaitu 54km. Setibanya di Dunedin, kami segera mencari penginapan yang telah ditempah sebelum ini iaitu sebuah penginapan yang terletak di atas bukit dengan pandangan hillside, green mountains, blue mountains with white dotted cottons (sheeps) overseeing vast stretches of more mountains. Di sini juga saya dan Kak Mah sempat menyaksikan sunrise and sunset in Dunedin.

Kami berjaya tiba di rumah Chris pada pukul 6.30 petang dan belum sempat enjin kereta dimatikan, kelibat Chris sudah berada berdekatan pintu kereta. Chris membantu kami untuk unload our baggage, well Ita's was the heaviest and Kak Mah's was the 2nd. As for me, I loved to keep it simple, feather light luggage for easy carrying whilst Ita brought 5 wardrobes cramped up in her light purple baggage. It was true. Case Closed.

Chris showed us to our rooms and his house. We were very delighted as we rushed outside to see the beautiful mountains and the 30% remaining of sun setting down. Ahhhh...what a journey. That night we washed and dried our dirty clothes (washing machine and dryer were provided by Chris) and also planned to have our own by the hillside breakfast tomorrow morning in the 3 degrees Celsius chillness on a patio (patio was hand made by Chris and his friend). Ita was a bit beaten down as so dia tak akan sertai kami. Too Bad.

Perjalanan dari Geraldine menuju ke Dunedin dimulakan dengan sesi berselfie di dalam kereta. Pastikan tidak menghalang driver especially macam Ita. Ooops. Kak Mah kenapa tu? Lambaian Evita ke?

Sempat menyinggah untuk melihat Lautan Tasman Sea dan Seagull (Camar Laut) yang sangat jinak.

Sesi berselfie di Palmerston. Di belakang itulah terletak kedai di mana Kak Mah mempraktikkan kehebatan hanggling skill beliau.

Old Lady playing SUDOKU. She was extremely friendly and could become anybody's grandma. We shall meet again grandma.

Inilah magsa hanggling Kak Mah. Anyhow, we reaped the benefit. Kudos to Kak Mah. The guy is from India and has stayed in Palmerston for more than 3 years now.