Dunedin: Little Edinburgh of the South

Since Gaia and I came back to Dunedin from Milford Sound we've basically been hanging out, cooking interesting foods, and walking around town. Although the town is basically empty now, and most of campus seems to be under construction it has been incredibly nice to be back. The past few days I've woken up without my alarm at a comfortable time and moseyed over either to Gaia or Sophie's house and we'd decided where to go from there.

A couple days ago (on Thursday to be precise) Sophie, her rowing friend Katie and her little sister, Stella and I set out to go to Harrington Point on the peninsula. It is basically the tip of the peninsula and is home of the Royal Albatross Colony. We took the low road with the windy paths to get there and had spectacular views of the harbor. It was a very warm sunny day and Lady (the car) doesn't have AC and the windows are broken, so our ride was very much like a sauna. By the time we arrived all the windows had fogged up and leaving the car felt pretty close to leaving a sauna. I love Lady though, she has been an awesome car (she's only a year younger than me!) and has taken me on so many adventures.

At Harrington Point we walked around looking at all of the water that surrounded us. From one side you could see Aramoana and it's blindingly white sand. On the other side there were cliffs with Shags nesting in the crevices. If you looked really closely you could see the little fluffy shag babies.

Aramoana in the distance

We went into the Royal Albatross center and read some of the posters they had about the giant birds. We then went outside to see if we could spot any of them in flight. After sometime we saw one albatross and it was HUGE. They make seagulls look like dots in the sky. They have a three meter wing span. That is only a little shy of twice my height.

That night Kinga made chicken salad for dinner and we ate together and talked about how incredibly fast this semester had gone. Sophie came around later on as well and chatted with us.

On Friday I woke up reasonably early and ran errands in town. I did some last minute souvenir and Christmas shopping and headed home. I went over to Sophie's where we bought bus tickets to come back to Dunedin next Tuesday. Sophie is flying up to Auckland with me next Thursday when I leave but is flying back into Christchurch later on with her sister and friends to travel around the South Island so she is going to leave Lady in Christchurch until she came back and Gaia and I decided to tag along since neither of us have actually been in Christchurch. Anyways, we'll be driving up on Monday and coming back on Tuesday.

That night after Gaia and I ate our leftover Shepard's pie for dinner we set out to climb Baldwin Street. I climbed the street, for the 4th or 5th time at that point, and we got to the top right as the sun was beginning to set. After we caught our breath Gaia and I took a bunch of jumping pictures. It was really fun, but also exhausting. I promptly went to bed after I got home.

This morning Gaia and I went to the Farmers Market for the last time. I haven't been there since September or early October so it was really interesting to see the stands selling fresh flowers, strawberries, and cherries as last time everyone was still bundled up in winter gear sipping coffee.

Also, since it is summer break now, there were a lot of little kids performing around the market. There were these four girls probably between the ages of 8 and 12 that were playing Christmas music on strings (1 cello, 2 violins, 1 viola). They were actually all quite good, and all so young.

There was another young boy on a ukelele who was also around 8 or 9 years old. He was adorable because he put his music on the ground so the entire time he stared at the ground while strumming his ukelele and trying to sing over his own instrument and everyone around him.

At the market I could not choose if I wanted a Bacon Buttie or a crepe, so as it was my last time at the Farmers Market, I got both.  I even got soy milk at the little Chinese stand and regretted that I did not get soy milk there before because it was a delicious taste of home. Gaia also got a Cornish Pasty and some pan fried dumpings. We sat on the bench under the sun eating our food and talking about the strengths and flaws of the U.S. education system. I have realized recently that i'm actually very interested in education. I have always been interested in childhood education but more so about the content of things that were taught whereas now i'm moving into being more interested about the different education systems. This makes me especially excited about my classes next semester where i'll be studying about education of northern Africa.

 

* One of my first Bacon Butties and my last Bacon Buttie :p

After our rather large meal at the markets, we ventured to the Octagon where there were stands set up selling a variety of trinkets. There was a stand that sold things made out of different types of New Zealand wood. He had picture frames, rulers, cutlery, and cutting boards. Gaia and I each bought a Kauri egg. Kauri trees are the biggest trees in New Zealand and takes 500 years to grow to full size. During my trip to Wellington with Grace and Miriam we had seen a forest where they were growing new Kauri trees and I recall seeing a tree skinnier than my wrist and hearing the guide say that it was 10 years old. I have also seen slices of Kauri tree in museums that had diameters that are twice my height. They are big trees.

Okay, these are NOT Kauri eggs, but they ARE chicken eggs. One on the left is a double yolker, the one on the right is normal.... 

We then walked around town for a little bit before hopping on a bus to go to St. Claire beach. When I boarded the bus and went to pay for my ticket the driver asked, "One child's ticket?" to which I responded, "Sure, i'm a student" so I paid $1.90 for my ticket. Gaia boarded right after me and got charged as an adult, hahaha... The student ticket only applies to college students, which means high school students here. :)

It's almost Christmas and i'm in shorts and a t-shirt?!?!

At St. Claire I had moments of nostalgia as it was the first beach I came to when arriving in New Zealand. A group of us (Tucker, Chris, Freddie, Grace, Sophie, Victoria, Julia,  and I) had come on a bus just a few days after we all arrived and met each other. The first time was cold and gray and I was bundled up in my hat and winter coat as this time it was sunny and I was in t-shirt and shorts.

Gaia and I walked around and met a lone sea lion sleeping on the sand. I felt a little bad, as while it slept flies just kept on bugging its face and once in a while it would flap its fins to get them to go away. Then a wind surfer walked by and the dangling rope on the end of the sail provoked the sea lion to chase it a ways before flopping down on the sand. Then just as it fell asleep again a huge wave came and splashed him and made him run towards the dry sand.

We then took a bunch of jumping and cartwheeling pictures before heading back to bus stop, but not without stopping at the playground. There were these really odd swings with a chain across them. We later hypothesized that they were there so that it would prevent people from jumping off the swings as they were assembled in a circle. With quite some trouble Gaia climbed in and swung happily. I couldn't be bothered to get myself tangled so I went on the see-saw.


At the bus stop I took out my two dollar coin and Gaia said, "You know, it was probably just a fluke that you got a student ticket," and I thought back to all the buses we took in Wellington where I got all student tickets so I was hoping on continuing the trend. We boarded the bus and I got my student ticket and Gaia was charged as an adult again. HAHAHA. Benefits of looking like a 14 year old, I guess. :) Actually, earlier in the day we had gone to Canterbury of New Zealand, a clothing store, and I really wanted a pair of their warm up pants and instead of trying on the adult pants (tooo too long and too expensive) I tried on their children's pants which actually fit me and were the perfect length. I didn't end up getting them because they were rather pricey, even for children's section, but for a couple of moments I was thinking about getting a pair for my birthday and thought, "Here's a pair of children's pants. Happy 21st Birthday and welcome to adulthood :)"

For dinner I attempted to make macaroni carbonara with Gaia and it ended up being mac n cheese but it was still good. We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and then V for Vendetta. It has been a pretty sweet as couple of days. Like I mentioned earlier, Sophie, Gaia, and I will be off to Christchurch on Monday but we'll be back on Tuesday. Yay road trip!!! :)