Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Dunedin Trip
Photos now available here
Arrival
Landing at Dunedin airport I looked across the runway to see cows in a paddock oblivious to the great metal bird landing right next to them. When you exit the terminal you are hit by the rustic smell of the New Zealand farm. It is a 23 km drive north to get to the city of Dunedin from the airport.
Day 1
Met up with my friend Tom at his house in north Dunedin. We went up to the top of Mount Cargill, where the TV transmitter is, for a grand view of the city. Went back down to his house and met up with Sarah, Tom's girlfriend. Headed into town for lunch then on to the Albatross colony at Taiaroa Head.
As we drove further out it started to look more and more like the Marlborough sounds. The wind got stronger nearer to the end of the peninsula . When we arrived at the parking lot we headed over to the lookout where we could see along the cliffs to the lighthouse. Just as we arrived the rain started. I took a few quick photos then we headed back to the visitors centre doubled over to counter the strong wind and stinging horizontal rain. It was clear we were not going to make it to the viewing platform that day so we had to make do with looking out the window in hope of glimpsing an albatross that occasionally came into view over the hill. I got one great shot, of a sea gull.
Tom suggested we visit the aquarium on the way back as his flatmate (and our old school mate) Peter Bell worked there. We arrived 20 minutes before closing so we had a look around the public area where they have many star fish and other bottom dwelling fish that you can touch. After closing Peter showed us around their research facilities. Toms girlfriend is a scientist and was asking specific questions that I didn't understand. The aquarium is part of the University so they have a lot of different research going on.
In the evening we went to a play called “My heart is bathed in blood”. It is a based on a true story about a doctor in Dunedin in the 1950's who goes mad after aborting her baby and having her engagement broken off by her fiancée. She kills him at the end but is convicted of manslaughter as the jury found that she had not meant for the gun to go off.
Day 2
It was a lovely sunny day so we joined Moira, Tracy and Toby ( Moira's dog) on a walk up Ross creek. We followed a track that lead around the city reservoir and back. Toby enjoyed finding small logs and carrying them. When we stopped he would proceed tear the logs up with his teeth.
After a nice brunch we headed to Otago boys to see where Charles (Lou's Dad) went to school. Otago boys is the same era as the train station and used the same building materials. Just down the road is Otago girls school where Moira and Tracy both work.
Later we met up with Tom and Sarah again to look at the steam train convention that is happening at the train station over the long weekend. There were several steam engines all puffing steam and pouring out smoke. We waited for a long time for a ride on an old carriage which lasted about 5 minutes. The inside of the train station has fantastic tile work on the walls and mosaics on the floor. The style of the architecture of the station and a few other notable buildings in the city (e.g. Otago Boys High School) was Flemish Renaissance and I think it was built in the mid 1800s. The external building materials were Oamaru sand stone, Kokonga volcanic stone and Aberdeen granite.
On leaving the train station we took our rental car up Baldwin St, the steepest street in the world. It was actually quite easy in an automatic in low gear. A beat up old van full of people with a trailer on the back followed us up so it's not that hard.
Next was the Botanical gardens with its aviary of exotic and domestic parrots. The rhododendrons were also in full bloom.
Later we went out to a local Thai restaurant with Pauline, Moira and Tracy where the portions were enormous. Lou and I hardly got through half of our meals. I am sure that Toby enjoyed the other half of my lamb shanks though.
Day 3
Met up with Tom again to take the “cynical” tour of the University. Because Tom has studied and worked at the University for so long he knows a lot of the problems it has and stupid decisions made. There are some lovely old buildings, some ugly 60's buildings and some weird, glass, contemporary buildings. The library was built two years ago and quite impressive. It was full of students “studying” for exams, Tom said you could “smell the fear”. It was surprising how many “poor” students had fancy cell phones, mp3 players and laptops on their desks.
After an over priced lunch at the cafe in the museum we had a look around. It is quite large with many replicas of things we have actually seen like the Rosetta stone and busts of Roman emperors. We were impressed by the whale skeleton and it was fun looking round their “Scarfies” exhibition about student life in Dunedin.
We had heard that there was a sale on at Bond and Bond and we have had our eye on a TV there for a while. It turned our it was 15% off so we bought it and asked to pick it up from their Wellington branch.
We headed back to Tom's house for a game of “Saving Dr Lucky”. It is made by cheap ass games which do a range if cheaply made but very fun games. You only get the board and instructions so you can use counters and dice from other games to play.
Pauline cooked us sar ho fun for dinner and Moira and Tracy came round to join us. I got a surprise when Tracy brought out a birthday cake for me! Very nice chocolate cake it was too.
Day 4
We slept in due to our colds. I wanted to get a picture of an Albatross so we headed out along the peninsula again. Unfortunately the wind was not strong enough for the Albatrosses to fly. On the way back to Dunedin we stopped at Glenfalloch garden, a pleasant garden kept by a trust. We were hungry by this stage so we didn't stay long and $13 for a mini pizza did not appeal.
Back in Dunedin Lou treated me to a late lunch then we looked through the art gallery. I took much longer than Lou through the older paintings but breezed past her in the modern art section. Lou said that modern art is more about ideas so she has to read the blurbs to understand what they are trying to convey. I say that if you can't get a sense of what they are trying to say from looking at the work then it can't be that good. We took a stroll through the shops but the cold wind drove us back to the car.
We headed back to pack for our flight back home to hear the news that Wellington airport was closed due to high winds. On calling the airport we were advised to go to the airport anyway in the hope that it would open. Our flight left on time and arrived in Christchurch were we heard that we were being redirected to Palmerston North. On landing at 9:30 pm the captain told us that the wind had dropped in Wellington but they didn't want us. From the deserted airport we were directed to a coach. For some reason the air conditioning was very cold and it prevented us from getting warm. We arrived at Wellington Railway station at 12:15 am and got a taxi home. Needless to say we were a bit late to work today. However bad our trip was, I feel lucky that I was not on the 10 hour ferry crossing!
We had an enjoyable break. It was nice getting to know Pauline, Moira, Tracy and Sarah and catching up with Tom. It also seems like we got better Labour weekend weather than anywhere else in the country. There are some nice buildings and it easy to get around Dunedin, if you have a car. It would be nice if it was a bit warmer though. We were in thermals while the locals were in shorts and T shirts.
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Arrival
Landing at Dunedin airport I looked across the runway to see cows in a paddock oblivious to the great metal bird landing right next to them. When you exit the terminal you are hit by the rustic smell of the New Zealand farm. It is a 23 km drive north to get to the city of Dunedin from the airport.
Day 1
Met up with my friend Tom at his house in north Dunedin. We went up to the top of Mount Cargill, where the TV transmitter is, for a grand view of the city. Went back down to his house and met up with Sarah, Tom's girlfriend. Headed into town for lunch then on to the Albatross colony at Taiaroa Head.
As we drove further out it started to look more and more like the Marlborough sounds. The wind got stronger nearer to the end of the peninsula . When we arrived at the parking lot we headed over to the lookout where we could see along the cliffs to the lighthouse. Just as we arrived the rain started. I took a few quick photos then we headed back to the visitors centre doubled over to counter the strong wind and stinging horizontal rain. It was clear we were not going to make it to the viewing platform that day so we had to make do with looking out the window in hope of glimpsing an albatross that occasionally came into view over the hill. I got one great shot, of a sea gull.
Tom suggested we visit the aquarium on the way back as his flatmate (and our old school mate) Peter Bell worked there. We arrived 20 minutes before closing so we had a look around the public area where they have many star fish and other bottom dwelling fish that you can touch. After closing Peter showed us around their research facilities. Toms girlfriend is a scientist and was asking specific questions that I didn't understand. The aquarium is part of the University so they have a lot of different research going on.
In the evening we went to a play called “My heart is bathed in blood”. It is a based on a true story about a doctor in Dunedin in the 1950's who goes mad after aborting her baby and having her engagement broken off by her fiancée. She kills him at the end but is convicted of manslaughter as the jury found that she had not meant for the gun to go off.
Day 2
It was a lovely sunny day so we joined Moira, Tracy and Toby ( Moira's dog) on a walk up Ross creek. We followed a track that lead around the city reservoir and back. Toby enjoyed finding small logs and carrying them. When we stopped he would proceed tear the logs up with his teeth.
After a nice brunch we headed to Otago boys to see where Charles (Lou's Dad) went to school. Otago boys is the same era as the train station and used the same building materials. Just down the road is Otago girls school where Moira and Tracy both work.
Later we met up with Tom and Sarah again to look at the steam train convention that is happening at the train station over the long weekend. There were several steam engines all puffing steam and pouring out smoke. We waited for a long time for a ride on an old carriage which lasted about 5 minutes. The inside of the train station has fantastic tile work on the walls and mosaics on the floor. The style of the architecture of the station and a few other notable buildings in the city (e.g. Otago Boys High School) was Flemish Renaissance and I think it was built in the mid 1800s. The external building materials were Oamaru sand stone, Kokonga volcanic stone and Aberdeen granite.
On leaving the train station we took our rental car up Baldwin St, the steepest street in the world. It was actually quite easy in an automatic in low gear. A beat up old van full of people with a trailer on the back followed us up so it's not that hard.
Next was the Botanical gardens with its aviary of exotic and domestic parrots. The rhododendrons were also in full bloom.
Later we went out to a local Thai restaurant with Pauline, Moira and Tracy where the portions were enormous. Lou and I hardly got through half of our meals. I am sure that Toby enjoyed the other half of my lamb shanks though.
Day 3
Met up with Tom again to take the “cynical” tour of the University. Because Tom has studied and worked at the University for so long he knows a lot of the problems it has and stupid decisions made. There are some lovely old buildings, some ugly 60's buildings and some weird, glass, contemporary buildings. The library was built two years ago and quite impressive. It was full of students “studying” for exams, Tom said you could “smell the fear”. It was surprising how many “poor” students had fancy cell phones, mp3 players and laptops on their desks.
After an over priced lunch at the cafe in the museum we had a look around. It is quite large with many replicas of things we have actually seen like the Rosetta stone and busts of Roman emperors. We were impressed by the whale skeleton and it was fun looking round their “Scarfies” exhibition about student life in Dunedin.
We had heard that there was a sale on at Bond and Bond and we have had our eye on a TV there for a while. It turned our it was 15% off so we bought it and asked to pick it up from their Wellington branch.
We headed back to Tom's house for a game of “Saving Dr Lucky”. It is made by cheap ass games which do a range if cheaply made but very fun games. You only get the board and instructions so you can use counters and dice from other games to play.
Pauline cooked us sar ho fun for dinner and Moira and Tracy came round to join us. I got a surprise when Tracy brought out a birthday cake for me! Very nice chocolate cake it was too.
Day 4
We slept in due to our colds. I wanted to get a picture of an Albatross so we headed out along the peninsula again. Unfortunately the wind was not strong enough for the Albatrosses to fly. On the way back to Dunedin we stopped at Glenfalloch garden, a pleasant garden kept by a trust. We were hungry by this stage so we didn't stay long and $13 for a mini pizza did not appeal.
Back in Dunedin Lou treated me to a late lunch then we looked through the art gallery. I took much longer than Lou through the older paintings but breezed past her in the modern art section. Lou said that modern art is more about ideas so she has to read the blurbs to understand what they are trying to convey. I say that if you can't get a sense of what they are trying to say from looking at the work then it can't be that good. We took a stroll through the shops but the cold wind drove us back to the car.
We headed back to pack for our flight back home to hear the news that Wellington airport was closed due to high winds. On calling the airport we were advised to go to the airport anyway in the hope that it would open. Our flight left on time and arrived in Christchurch were we heard that we were being redirected to Palmerston North. On landing at 9:30 pm the captain told us that the wind had dropped in Wellington but they didn't want us. From the deserted airport we were directed to a coach. For some reason the air conditioning was very cold and it prevented us from getting warm. We arrived at Wellington Railway station at 12:15 am and got a taxi home. Needless to say we were a bit late to work today. However bad our trip was, I feel lucky that I was not on the 10 hour ferry crossing!
We had an enjoyable break. It was nice getting to know Pauline, Moira, Tracy and Sarah and catching up with Tom. It also seems like we got better Labour weekend weather than anywhere else in the country. There are some nice buildings and it easy to get around Dunedin, if you have a car. It would be nice if it was a bit warmer though. We were in thermals while the locals were in shorts and T shirts.
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