We are just about to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Philip decided that we should spend a few days together in Queenstown and Dunedin. Every good and perfect gift comes to us from our gracious God; these 40 years of life together—complete with its ups and downs, great joys and deep sorrows, our children and their lives—come from the Father’s hand. So, when we mention the word “celebrate”, I am not for a moment suggesting that we have achieved anything in and of ourselves. But if we did not joyfully acknowledge the gift, it would hardly demonstrate our gratitude and contentment.

And so, we went on this selfie-taking trip.

25 June

Flight departure from Auckland was at 6:30 a.m. to Queenstown. When we landed, the temperature was 2°C, and it was raining. The 20 minutes after we picked up the keys for the rental car were most uncomfortable—wet and cold. Seeing the snow on the mountains nearby was not helping. Once we found the car, loaded our luggage into it, and worked the car’s heater for a few minutes, we were good to go.

We had breakfast at McDonald’s. In any case, our accommodation would be available only at 2:00 p.m.

We then went to Arrow Town, 15 minutes away, where the thin layer of snow on the ground was turning to slush. We had an enjoyable stroll along Buckingham Street.

The next stop was a lookout point suggested by Google Maps (76 Hensman Road), from which we could see a fabulous panoramic view of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables.

We picked up some lunch from a PAKnSAVE deli and finally went to our Marram Accommodation; we always find Marram Accommodation to be just what we need—not fancy but ample.

Lunch and a long and happy nap later, we got ourselves Fergburger burgers for dinner, which we enjoyed. 

26 June

We left for Glenorchy just before noon. The drive was a scenic one. We also stopped once for selfies. The tripod loaned to us by Joe Prakasa was proving to be very useful.

Glenorchy is indeed a small town with big views. The iconic red shed is just a shed, but in this kind of setting, everything takes on a charm. Even us, and so we took some more, you guessed it, selfies. 

Finally, we stopped for lunch at a store full of character called  Mrs Wooly’s General Store. We bought pies and a piece of cake. The friendly sparrows helped us finish off everything. 

The final activity for the day was the gondola ride at Queenstown Skyline. We have been here before, more than 15 years ago, with my brother-in-law Sekhar Annan and sister-in-law Preethi Akka; our thoughts constantly went back to that visit. 

27 June

We checked out of our accommodation at 10:00 a.m. and set out for Dunedin. We first set the destination as Roxburgh to let Google Maps know our preferred route. At the start, the road was mountainous and windy.

When we got to Cromwell, we saw the Cromwell Fruit sculpture.

Our first stop was Aleandra, where the toilets were very clean, and we quite enjoyed the Central Stories Museum & Art Gallery.

It was a bit too early for lunch, so we decided to get something in Roxburgh, our next stop. Wrong choice. Roxburgh was a tiny place, and we did not find anything appealing to eat. We finally found a “dairy” where we picked up some sandwiches and a bag of chips. Some of the buildings were interesting though.

When we finally got to Dunedin and to our accommodation at about 3:00, we unloaded our stuff and left to check out Larnach Castle, built in 1871. We were too late to see the inside of the castle, but we were able to purchase tickets for a walk around the castle grounds. Philip and I, obviously on a mission to take selfies, took some more selfies, of course, till the camera ran out of charge.

At about 6:00 p.m., we went to a Malayalee Restaurant called Malabar Magic and had some authentic Kerala-style Chicken biriyani and Kizhi beef Parotta, which comprised parottas and beef curry stacked one on top of the other, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. Who knew we would come to the bottom of the South Island to taste yummy Mallu food. We did not have to take a selfie inside the restaurant, because the manager Justin took our picture!

28 June

It feels strange to be on a train on a Sunday instead of in church. Our thoughts kept going back to Auckland to South City Church.

No sooner had our Uber dropped us off at the beautiful Dunedin Railway Station than I realised that I had not brought my phone with me. This was a daunting realisation at first, because we used my phone for everything, for retrieving bookings and also for the Bluetooth connection with the selfie stick, not to mention actually clicking all those photos. But we coped exceedingly well. 

The Dunedin Railway Station was built in 1906. We began by taking a selfie with the beautiful station building as the backdrop.

The Booking hall is spectacular. This station reminds me of railway stations in India, like Chennai Central. But over time, and because of the sheer traffic of people and trains over decades, those stations have probably had to shed much of the original decorative woodwork and so on. In contrast, the Dunedin station only runs two trains regularly. It is well-maintained and grand.

When we were trying in vain to take selfies on the platform, the train manager came to our assistance and took several photos of us. We later learned that his name was Craig. He was so kind. Come to think of it, all the staff on the train were amazing. 

The coach was comfortable, the commentary clear, and the seats comfortable. Refreshments were available in the onboard café throughout. Every now and then, we thought of what our church family would be doing in Auckland. Going forward, although we plan to go away on holidays more, we would need to plan for the Sundays carefully.

We stopped midway near one of the bridges called the Deep Stream bridge. We were given the opportunity to cross the bridge on foot and then watch the train advance across the bridge to where we were. 

We boarded the train and continued till we got to Pukerangi, which is as far from Dunedin as this train goes. Before we started on the return trip, we spent about 20 minutes at that station where local vendors added to the charm of the station by selling hand-knit woollen caps, scarves, etc., and also beautifully photographed local scenes available as prints and fridge magnets. Philip and I also took . . . selfies. And we took a picture of Craig, the Train Manager, too.

When we embarked again, we were asked to exchange our seats with those who had sat across the aisle. from us, so that on our return trip, we would all get to see a different view from the window. 

The train trip was pleasant and relaxed.

Later in the evening, we checked out the steepest street in the world, called Baldwin Street.

After this, we drove around the Otago University area and ensured that the clock tower featured in one of our selfies. 🙂 

29 June

It was a rainy morning when we returned the car at the airport and returned ourselves to Auckland, thankful to God for giving us these pleasant four days, which have flown by so quickly. But what can we say about the 40 years; wasn’t it June of 1986 just yesterday?