Nugget Point, on the way to Dunedin
The past few days have been pretty wild. On Saturday morning (16th Feb) the storm was still very active, and Seth went running by himself. There were hardly any trails in the area and he was reduced to running along the side of the narrow, twisting road, with one side a steep drop to the sea. (If you couldn’t figure it out, Seacliff is characterised by the sea and its cliffs).
I did a bit of work on my stats, had brunch with Seth, and toured the vast Asylum grounds, which was built up around the 1880s. The Asylum was, before parts were burnt down and other sections demolished, the largest public building in New Zealand, home to hundreds of ‘insane’ men and women. The owner of the hostel and remaining buildings, Frank, is himself totally mad (but in an energetic, and not a bad, way). He looks and acts just like an old Beach Boy. Very relaxed yet full of childish energy, he owns about 50 antique cars, keeps several beautiful horses that roam freely on the grounds, takes guests out to swim with dolphins every morning, and when we were packing up the car that morning he was bringing a group of people over to one of the barns to go shooting. What a life he leads!
It would have been really great to stay at the Asylum another night (Frank didn’t even care that we were checking out around 1pm), but it was booked up that night, so we drove 40min back into Dunedin.
Our first stop in the Big City was Baldwin St, the steepest street in the world. It didn’t look any steeper than those crazy hills in San Francisco, but it was sure long! We talked up it then came back down to a souvenir shop at the corner to pick up our free certificate stating we scaled it :o)
We didn’t spend much time in the city and drove to Otago Peninsula, about another 40min east of the city. We drove all the way to Taiaroa Head, a long , skinny, wind-weathered point jutting in the ocean that looks like it marks the edge of the world. We stepped out of the car and were instantly battered by that type of wind that blows so hard it makes the skin at the corners of your mouth and eyes wrinkle a bit. The reason we were out here was to try to spot Royal Albatrosses, absolutely amazing birds with the longest wingspan in the world (about 3m), which spend years at sea before coming in to Taiaroa Head to breed. To get a good view of the colony one has to pay $30 per person, so we stood on the other side of the cliff and hoped one would fly overhead. After waiting for about 15-20min in that terrible, cold wind, one albatross flew above us and began circling the peninsula.
After gawking at the bird for a while, the wind got the better of us and we drove back down several kilometres to check in to our next accommodation, the Penguin Place. Just a simple building with several rooms, it was basic, straightforward, and peaceful. We didn’t spend much time there and took off back towards Dunedin. This time, instead of driving along the narrow, twisting road right along the ocean, we took the narrow, twisting ridge road down the middle of Otago Peninsula. I think it freaked Seth out to be driving so high up and with so little between us and a steep drop, but it did offer a great view.
We walked around the city for a while, looking for a coffee shop that was still open. Dunedin is a very cool Uni town (pop. 110,000), with a grungy, alternative big city feel and packed with extremely cute coffee shops. However, it was only about 6pm (on a Saturday night), and every place was closed, except for the Arc Café, which doubled as a music venue at night. That night was a dance party called “Pirates of the Gay-Are-Be-In.” Fortunately we went early enough and were able to share a nice quite mocha before the rapscallions arrived.
At that point it was beginning to get a little dark so we hustled back to the peninsula. We took the lower road, along the water, and made a brief stop at the historic Catholic Church, hidden behind a steep driveway. It was one of those small, one-room churches, and we noticed that it only holds one mass a month (the third Sunday of the month), and the next service would be the following day. How lucky! I really enjoy going to services in old, grand churches, but this time it would be a small, equally old and quaint church.
It was getting late so we kept driving through the peninsula, but we stopped to pick up a hitchhiker on his was to the pub to listen to music. Seth spent five weeks hitchhiking when he came to New Zealand 10 years ago, and he figured it is his turn to give people rides. After we dropped the fellow off we ended up back at Taiaroa Head, at Piolot’s Beach (down below the cliff), and waited for the little blue penguins to arrive. Once again, the wind was treacherous--we had not been that cold for a long time. After a brief introduction by a volunteer “penguin keeper” we waited in that wind for about 30min until it got really dark, and then watched the little guys come ashore. They were so cute! Being a gray-blue hue, and also the smallest penguin in the world, they didn’t really resemble penguins at all, but it was great fun to watch the 20-odd birds scurry across the sand to their burrows. We even got to watch an adult feed its hungry chicks. After observing them for about 30min, we took off and headed back to the Penguin Place hostel to warm up, have dinner, and go to bed.
The next morning, Sunday Feb 17th, we got up early to try to make it to Mass at the historic church. Because of the steep conditions on the narrow peninsula, there were only two options for running—either down the road toward Taiaroa Head, or down the road away from the head. We went out towards the head and ended up back at the albatross colony. Oddly enough, it was eerily calm. However, not too long after I returned from the run the wind picked back up to at least the strength it was the day before.
I cooked up some salty pancakes for brunch (I accidentally used salt, which was disguised as sugar), then we checked out and headed for the church. I can’t remember the name of the church, but I was really taken by its quirkiness and intimacy. The congregation consisted of about 20 people (mostly older folks, many of whom were Polish), and a little old nun in the back trying her hardest to play a small organ. The priest resembled David Attenborough perfectly, and had to speak above the wind, which was shaking the walls and making the hanging pictures rattle. The Mass was so personal that during the service the priest had the congregation show hands of everyone who wanted communion, just to make sure he had enough wafers.
After the service many people approached us and said hello, and had us join them for tea and attend a rose-planting ceremony to honour Sir. Edmund Hillary, who recently died.
After leaving the church on the hill, Seth and I drove back into Dunedin to explore the city a bit more. We checked out a few more coffee shops, eventually stopping at Modaks, which was a bit smaller but just as grungy as Arc, and reminded us of Strongs Coffee back in Chapel Hill.
While in town we also visited the Cadbury Factory (we didn’t take the tour but the gift-shop was a real let-down), browsed a used book store, and really stocked up on groceries.
We left Dunedin for Oamaru, about 2 hours north. Oamaru was pretty dead, being a Sunday afternoon, but the first hostel we tried was booked up. There was a food and wine festival winding down and people were still filling the town’s accommodation. We were referred to Swagger’s Backpackers down the road, and after getting turned around a bit, finally found it.
The woman who owned the little hostel, Agra, lived in a side room, and came out to check us in. She was a bit of a hippy/witchy woman, and though not exactly warm and inviting, was strangely motherly and very insistent that we help ourselves to the food in the pantry and on the shelves (crackers, toast, spreads, even milk, cereal, and ice cream), and showed us the “free” washing machine and detergent. The house was extremely homey and the bedroom we got (a full 5-bed dorm room to ourselves) had a desk, huge window, nice beds, and lots of classic books on the windowsill. It was the most comfy place we had been to so far.
Agra, however, was a bit too “involved” in that she kept popping up to check up on us and keep us in line (such as explaining very carefully when she wanted us checked out of the house in the morning). She insisted we go see the penguins (Oamaru is home to both the little blue and yellow-eyed varieties), so we went down to the very windy shore and watched several yellow-eyed penguins come in (this time we went when it was still light outside so we got a few decent photos). We skipped the little blue penguins, went back to another grocery store, and spent the rest of the evening at the hostel, doing laundry, eating ice cream, and playing guitar. Agra had great wireless internet, so I was also able to take advantage of that.
This morning (Monday, Feb 18th) we got up early for a run around town and through some poorly marked bushland. Oamaru (pop 12,000) is described as New Zealand’s only Victorian City, and is characterised by great stone buildings and an artsy culture (we ran past several theatres and even an opera house!).
We didn’t spend much time in the city and drove to 
I cooked up some salty pancakes for brunch (I accidentally used salt, which was disguised as sugar), then we checked out and headed for the church. I can’t remember the name of the church, but I was really taken by its quirkiness and intimacy. The congregation consisted of about 20 people (mostly older folks, many of whom were Polish), and a little old nun in the back trying her hardest to play a small organ. The priest resembled David Attenborough perfectly, and had to speak above the wind, which was shaking the walls and making the hanging pictures rattle. The Mass was so personal that during the service the priest had the congregation show hands of everyone who wanted communion, just to make sure he had enough wafers.
After the service many people approached us and said hello, and had us join them for tea and attend a rose-planting ceremony to honour Sir. Edmund Hillary, who recently died.
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