Oamaru

Left Balclutha in brilliant sunlight, then hit a fog bank - just in the middle of open country, with no obvious reason for it, then it cleared again. Strange! Round Dunedin it was wet and misty and I have absolutley no idea what the countryside is like thereabouts - I felt I was driving on a causeway with nothing each side of me!

Took pity on a hitch-hiker. Nice guy from the Uk who's an architect and is taking MAJOR time out - lucky lad! It was nice to have some company in the car I must admit... Took him as far as Oamaru, which was my end of the line.

Met an wonderful bookbinder called Michael O'Brien. Quite a character: the archetypal hairy Scot, with full kilt, dirk at the belt and all. They are very keen on costume in Oamaru as they have so many old stone buildings from the Victorian era. He reckons his is probably the only bank in the world where he can walk in with a large knife at his belt and nobody bats an eyelid!

We had a good chat and I went back in the evening to talk to his bookbinding class about my work. They seemed to be having a lot of fun as well as doing some serious bookbinding.