Once back on the road, I suggest that we play I-Spy, which seems to perk Tui up – especially when I go along with her outlandish choices of ‘V is for very big tree’ and ‘A is for almost-red door’. Needless to say, she wins every game by a landslide, and is still hooting with amusement about the fact when the coach rolls into Oamaru.

‘Penguins!’ cries Tui, as she spots a sign advertising the colony, twisting her fingers together and humming with excitement. She has an adorable way of rocking from side to side when she is especially animated, and she does this now, her untidy plait swinging in tandem. She’s wearing blue leggings and a white Koru Stables polo shirt today, the front pocket of which is trailing a thread, and there are Velcro-fastened trainers on her feet. I already know that she can’t quite manage to undo the fiddly straps of a bridle, so I imagine shoelaces are a stretch too far. I don’t look all that different to her today, opting for casual attire of shorts and a plain black vest top, plus my trusty walking boots. I have gone from hating them to practically living in them, and I now feel like a dimwit for packing two pairs of heels – I haven’t so much as looked at them since the day Kit and I climbed the Tiki Trail.

I keep forgetting about my shorn hair, and it’s odd to reach up and find my neck completely exposed. Not odd in a bad way, though – in truth, I feel about two stone lighter. I only wish I hadn’t waited so long to get it done.

Tui predictably wants to go straight to the blue penguin Colony as soon as we have waved goodbye to Griff, and it takes all of Kit’s immense patience to stop her throwing a tantrum in the middle of the street. ‘The penguins are all out at sea now, they don’t come back to their nests until night-time,’ he reminds her, promising her an ice cream if she behaves herself.

‘You can have one, too,’ he jokes to me. ‘If you’re a good girl.’

We check into a cosy bed and breakfast overlooking a horseshoe bay, then stroll down the hill into the centre of town. A four-lane high street is dotted with shops, cafés and meandering pedestrians, and as we wander further, I take in the limestone architecture and cobbled lanes. It’s obvious even to a non-history buff like me that this North Otago town has embraced a Victorian theme – an assumption Kit confirms as he leads us past a steampunk museum.

He must have been here many times before in his tour guide days, because he seems to know exactly where everything is, and takes me and Tui into antique shops and a retro toy store, before nipping into the New Zealand Malt Whisky Distillery to pick up a bottle.