Dunedin

Dunedin... The city I wanted to love but....

Dunedin Train Station

In all fairness though I think that was more an issue with me than the city. When I arrived in Dunedin I was tired from early buses and late nights making travel plans, and was starting to hit the end of the "honeymoon" period for this trip. Luckily when I got to town the iSite wasn't too busy, and rather than make an effort to put together everything myself, I let them do it. They will probably never see this blog but I just have to say that they were awesome! I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders when I walked out of their office.

The Octagon

When I got back to the hostel a girl in my room invited me to go watch rugby with some friends, and even though I was tired I knew it would probably be my only chance, so I went. The tickets were WAY cheaper than I expected ($15 to sit in the end zone... is that what it is called? Whatever.) and also much more mellow than I anticipated. Rugby is supposed to be the most popular sport in New Zealand so I expected a rowdy mess of fans, but most people were pretty relaxed and the staff was pretty strict about behavior.  

Highlanders vs Hurricanes 

Saturday I went to Larnach Castle. It is the "only castle in NZ." The tour was pretty interesting but it doesn't have as long of a history as castles in Europe so its story wasn't quite as thrilling. A lot of it was pretty sad, since it seemed the family that built it had a number of relationship problems. The gardens were beautiful though, and there were some interesting piece of furniture and what not on display (it reminded me a bit of Downton Abbey hahaha). In the afternoon I went to the Chinese garden but it was... underwhelming.

Larnach Castle

Sunday afternoon I got my rental car and drove out the peninsula to the Royal Albatross Center. It is the only mainland albatross colony in the world apparently! The tour guide was a little... odd, but informative, and we did get to see a number of the albatross babies in their nests and the juveniles flying around. They fly SOOOO fast!

I went to bed so tired I really didn't want to get up the next day but I was glad I did. I headed out to see the Moeraki Boulders. I didn't time the tides right at all and unfortunately ended up there just before high tide. I did get to see the boulders but only briefly, and I got completely soaked and covered in kelp. Yuck.

Moeraki Boulders

Before returning the rental car I decided to walk up Baldwin St. - The steepest street in the world. It is really really steep but its also short, so the walk up wasn't as hard as I anticipated. The walk down however was more of a workout, though I didn't realize it till the next day. I woke up and my thighs and butt muscles hurt! ha ha.

House on Baldwin St. 

My last day in Dunedin I spent doing pretty much nothing, though I did go to the Settlers Museum. It was an interesting place to spend an hour...

I left Dunedin in a 5:30am airport shuttle, which made me sad I had to get up so early (another hit for my opinion of Dunedin haha) and caught the 6:50 flight to Wellington. Now lets see what I can find to fill my return visit to the windy city....