Those of you in New Zealand would have heard about the terrible winter weather that hit Christchurch overnight on Sunday (and moved it’s way up the country) so imagine my surprise on Monday morning when we woke up and found more than a foot of snow everywhere. It was like a winter wonderland – but in Christchurch.

It was exciting in one respect because we were able to make a snow man, play snowball fights and took our son taboggoning – down the hill at the end of our street, which was just surreal. I hear it was the second coldest day in Christchurch – minus 1.9deg = since about 1915. However, it was also not that great for us as we were due to head to Dunedin on Monday night to check out some residential colleges at Otago University for our teenage daughter.

I thought out quick trip was scuppered (we’d been planning it for weeks and I had to be back at work on Thursday) until about 2pm we made the decision to pack light and fast and head south – so we did. A quick chat to the neighbour to see if they’d feed the cat and we were on the road. Surprisingly, once we got about 30km out of Christchurch the roads were clear and snow-free. That said, we decided that by the time we got to Oamaru, which is about an hour and a quarter out of Dunedin, we’d call it a night and found a cabin at a camping ground and head to Dunedin in the morning.We had the heat pump working overboard in the room, keeping us toasty warm.

Today dawned bright and frosty in Oamaru and after a rather very average breakfast McMuffin from McDonalds we headed to Dunedin. The climb into the city over the hill was extremely slow, thanks to the ice and grit on the road but we got there in one piece and spent all day looking at residential colleges. I had an average coffee at the Otago Museum cafe but a much better one at the restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow, I want to check out some of the coffee spots in the inner city that I’ve had recommended to me.

Tomorrow, we’re  looking at doing the Cadbury chocolate factory tour – you get a bag of chocolate during the tour apparently so I’m going to see how much I can stuff in my mouth before being told off (just joking: I won’t really do that) – then we’ll hit road, Christchurch-bound, by 4pm at the latest, just in case they decide to close the road again.

At the moment, I’m sitting in a gorgeous cottage in Dunedin’s Broad Bay, a glass of riesling on the table beside me, a home-made cheese scone in my belly and am about to play Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. Can life get any better than this?

I don’t think so.