Otago Rail Trail – 3 day bike ride, almost free if you have your own bike and tent. Sort your vehicle shuttles out before you start and your accommodation during the summer if you are staying in lodges as it gets REALLY busy. Don’t ride too fast over the bridges (I broke my spokes) and it can be a fairly long push to the next little township. Bring a wine and some glasses for enjoying the views anywhere. You also don’t have to do the whole thing, you can just do parts of the trail, and there are better parts than others. Read all the interpretive information along the trail to get the full feeling of what the area was like back in the day. A cruisey trip. There were even people carrying fishing rods on the back of their bikes..... It all starts in the small town of Clyde.

Sheep Dog Trials, Middlemarch: We were told about a local sheep dog trial, drove to the hill country where ranchers had gathered with trucks, dogs and sheep. What a great day.