Reasons to Be Cheerful - You Can Take a Bike on the Bus With Metro Christchurch

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We took our car to Turners to be auctioned this Thursday. Hopefully it will sell and I’ll be using my bike and the bus a lot more.

New Zealand Diary - A Culture Trip to Dunedin For the Weekend

Dunedin is a small city (population 127,000), but it punches above its weight culturally, making it a fun place to visit for the weekend. There are plenty of galleries, including the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. The Settlers Museum has impressive displays that take you through the development of both Māori and Pākehā culture through the history of Otago.

Everywhere you walk in the city you are likely to come across some fantastic and often enormous street art.

And if you get tired of walking around the city and the cultural sights, you can always stop for a drink.

Reasons to Be Cheerful - Al Fresco Dining

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It’s a relief when the sun comes out. November has been the wettest month I can remember for a while and the garden has been suffering.

New Zealand Diary and a Reason to Be Cheerful: Drinking in Dunedin

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Last month we spent a weekend in Dunedin. The weather was terrible and maybe it is because of the often terrible weather that Dunedin has a lot of excellent places to drink . We ducked in and out of some great cafes and bars (Morning Magpie, Mazagran, The Standard Kitchen, Good Good, Starfish, Pequeño, Albar and we would have liked to go to the Inch bar). There's even a guy (Brendan Seal) who is making wine in the city itself at a place called Urbn Vino.

There are several breweries in town. There is the long-established Speights brewery and you can take a tour if you like. We drink plenty of the stuff in Lyttelton, but didn’t want to spend the time on a tour. I thought the best thing was the springwater that was available on tap outside (for a voluntary donation). We also visited the New New New brewery (it's quite new) and the Emersons brewery.

If you like to drink coffee, wine, beer, or something stronger, you can guarantee you'll find your kind of place in Dunedin. Just don’t expect the weather to be any good.