BootsnAll Travel Network



Dunedin

It’s been really, really great being in Dunedin with Kevin and Milyn and their little boy, Issac. I got to see Kevin briefly in the States about a year ago, but I haven’t seen Milyn in probably four years. Kev and Mi have been great hosts, and it’s been really nice to have home cooked meals, hot showers and a warm bed.

I arrived in Dunedin on Sunday afternoon. Kev, Mi, and Issac (Izzy) picked me up from the bus station and then we headed back to their house. We visited for a little while, and the Kevin and I went to work. Kev is on easter break right now, and one of his projects was to clean out the attic and repace all of the insulation. New Zealand houses are typically not very well insulated and can get very drafty and cold, especially down on the South Island. So we spent the next two and a half days ripping out the old insulation and debris, vacumming everything out and then laying down the new insulation. Believe it or not, it was actually pretty fun, and we only almost went through the roof twice. By Tuesday evening we had finished the job, and you could immediately tell the difference in how warm the house was.

Since then I’ve just been kind of lounging around. On Thursday I had Kev drop me off on George St, which is one of the main shopping districts in Dunedin. I spent about 4 hours down there while Kevin went to work and taught some lessons. I cruised around for a while, stopped and had lunch at a small persian cafe, and spent a couple hours at the internet cafe catching up on some things and checking out where to stay in Christchurch and Melbourne. I also was hoping to buy a couple of new shirts, and I found a great little shop called Adventure Outfitters that carries New Zealand made performance wear. I picked up a great performance tee of of the sale rack, and also drooled over this great tee made of merino wool. At $90 NZ I decided to pass on the merino tee, even though I’m sure it would have been worth every penny.

Friday I went down to campus (Kevin teaches violin at the university of Otago) with Kevin and hung out in the library while he worked. The library is fairly new, and is a really nice space. It was kind of fun hanging out in a campus atmosphere again. That evening we headed to a cool little bar called Pequeno, a small cozy lounge with great music and comfy couches. Kev and I hung out there and talked until after midnight, at which point we decided to go get some kebabs and head home.

This past weekend was the Bluff Oyster and Seafood Festival. Bluff is a small town on the southern tip of the South Island, and the town is well known for their oysters. Kevin, Milyn, Issac and I drove down on Sunday morning and spent part of the afternoon there drinking wine and enjoying the seafood. I also got to participate in an oyster eating contest. There were three heats, one of which was an “international” heat, and it was myself, a New Zealander, and Austrailan, a Maori, and a South Korean. The object of the contest was to eat a dozen oysters as fast as possible. You had to eat them one at a time, using only a toothpick and with one hand behind your back. The South Korean guy smoked the rest of us, but it was all good because I love raw oysters and got to eat a dozen of them for free. 🙂

After the festival we headed back to Dunedin, and I spent the rest of the evening getting ready to leave for Christchurch the next day. Monday morning Milyn and I had breakfast with a friend of hers, Kerryn, who is from Melbourne, and she gave me some good ideas for seeing the city when I get there tomorrow. I caught the bus to Christchurch yesterday afternoon, and it wsa a pretty uneventful trip. The bus, however, was a double-decker, and sitting in the top level made it feel more like a boat trip than a bus ride the way we were being tossed around on the curvy roads. We arrived safe and sound in Christchurch about 7 PM. It was raining pretty steadily, so thankfully it was only about a 10 minute walk to my hostel.

Today is Anzac Day, so a lot of the shops are closed and the town is pretty quiet. But that’s ok since it’s still raining and I probably won’t venture out too far. The hostel I’m staying at is right across the street from the Christchurch Art Centre, a large collection of galleries, art studios, theatres, and shops. I’ll go cruise around there this afternoon, and then chill out at the hostel this evening. I’ll catch the airport shuttle at 3:30 AM tomorrow morning and fly out to Melbourne at around 7:00 AM.

01Dunedin.JPG 02Laptop.JPG 03bigwheel.JPG 04bluff.JPG 05oysters.JPG 06oysters.JPG
Pictures from Dunedin, and the Bluff Oyster Festival

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One Response to “Dunedin”

  1. Laura Says:

    look at that S. Korean guy go! you needed a faster shutter for the camera! 😉

  2. Posted from United States United States