One by one, my roommates came in over the course of the night. The last one finally turned off the main room light. For the most part it was fairly quiet... with just a little bit of snoring and a few short outbursts of some guy mumbling in his sleep in some Asian language.
I got up around 6:45 am. All my roommates were asleep but the rest of the hostel was very very busy. I had a bit to eat, checked out, then walked to the bus stop a couple blocks away to catch my 7:45 am bus.
The morning sun hits the hills
The bus pulled up but it was unmarked as to its destination. After a bit of confusion, I realized this was the one I needed. It was rather full and destined to get quite packed at upcoming stops. And so we headed on our way. We passed over barren rocky hills, along rivers, past lakes, by field of sheep, and through forests.
Racing past vineyards
More vineyards
Apparently they like their fruit in Cromwell!
At Clyde Dam, lots of people got off. Apparently this is the start of several hiking trails. We stopped for a lunch break in Lawrence around 10:30. A sign boasted of having the only 100% free internet in all of NZ... so of course I had to try it. It took a bit of work to get a reliable signal, but eventually it worked fine... and it was indeed completely free... no time or bandwidth limitations, no sign-up gimmicks, no buying of anything or having to rent a room.
The scary thing about Clyde Dam was that the city was DIRECTLY below it.
Our bus in Lawrence
A church across from the cafe we were at
Sheep
Not sure... but I'm not going to ask!
We pulled into Dunedin right on time, just a hair before 12:30. As I was standing outside the bus waiting for the driver to unload my bag, a woman came up to me and addressed me by name. It was Judy. Brian was across the street waiting by the car. I got my bag and we tossed everything in the trunk.
Brian and Judy are friends of Dave, my hiking buddy here in Colorado. He had met them many, many years ago while on a cycling trip around the country with one of their sons. They had kept in touch all this time.
We drove back to their lovely home in the hills. I got the enormous guest room upstairs, with an incredible view and my own bathroom! Quite a change from last night where I looked into a parking lot and had to fight the crowds for a shower.
Judy made a delicious lunch of toasted bread with tomato and feta. The dining table had a beautiful view of their garden which was filled with singing bird. It was perfect... except for quick sampling of some Bovril (another vegemite-like paste). Even when spread very thin... it's still way too salty and difficult to get down. But that's all part of the fun of going to a different country!
We then headed out for a tour of the city. Dunedin is relatively small, with only 120,000 inhabitants. The first settlers arrived in 1848. Many of them were Scottish and that heritage is reflected in a lot of the old architecture.
Our first stop was the local hospital. Judy had to deliver some flowers, so Brian and I waited in the car. He was a wealth of information about the city, seeing as he was born and raised here (we later drove past the actual building where he was born... back then, that's how people did it. A hospital was only used if there were complications). Apparently, one of his forefathers was a even a land surveyor of the area before it was even a city.
Once Judy returned to the car, we drove up to the Signal Hill Overlook. Built in 1940, the monument was dedicated to the memory of New Zealand's first pioneers. The old man represents the Spirit of History (time past) and the woman is spinning the Thread of Life (the future).
The future...
... and the past.
From here we had a great view of the city and even a hazy view of the southernmost part of the island some 40-something miles away.
To the left of Otago Harbor is the beginning of the peninsula; to the right is downtown Dunedin, and way in the distance is the end of the island.
Much of the downtown area is comprised of reclaimed land (the flat part in front of tall buildings; to the left of my red line). This would not fare well in a large earthquake.
The peninsula
This is a piece of the rock on which Edinburgh Castle stands, given in 1941 to signify the bond between these two cities.... Auld Lang Syne ("old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago").
We headed down the hill and slowly drove around the University of Otago. Brian worked here for many years so he knew the campus very well. The older buildings were built in the late 1800's - 1910.
This used to be housing for the teachers.
The buildings all had a definite European feel to them.
The clock tower
Gothic meets tree ferns
We headed down to a section of town known as the Octogon. We parked and walked into the tourist office. The tours all seemed quite pricey. After standing in line for a while, we quizzed the woman about a few things to do. We grabbed a few more brochures then Brian and Judy said they'd be glad to show me a few of the sites. I was very pleased with this too, for I much preferred their enjoyable company to a bus of tourists.
Heading toward the Octogon
The streets were lined with all sorts of lovely buildings.
The Octogon
Around the corner was Nova Cafe, so we stopped in for a drink. They treated me to a lovely, dark Emerson's London Porter.
Mmmm...
Judy and I ran up to the cathedral to see if it was open.. but it wasn't. We walked around to the back, but no luck either. Next door, city hall was also closed. It had been under renovation for a long time but was due to be opened again soon.
City hall... still under wraps
St. Paul's Angelican Cathedral
Um... did they just call the bishop... a primate?
On the way home, it started to rain a bit. But Judy and I still popped out for a quick view of the city from a bridge. She told me that she was originally from the Auckland area but had moved here fairly young.
More pretty buildings in town
The view from the bridge. Rush hour traffic was just starting.
While on the bridge, I noticed a geodetic marker (I collect these too, like "ests"). Judy asked about it so I told her they were usually to be found in prominent locations, such as mountain tops or structures like this.
We got home and Judy made dinner. It was delicious!... red lentils over rice. Dessert was ice cream with warm fruit. And to top it all off, we got to sit in front of a toasty wood fire to eat it.
Judy always felt her food didn't look good enough for pictures, but I thought it looked (and tasted) great!
We then chatted for a while. I got to hear all of their wonderful stories... about how they met, how they moved to Cambridge, about their kids and grandkids. I was quite tired and went to bed fairly early around 9:30 pm. Judy had already turned on the electric blanket for me to preheat the bed. They are both truly generous, warm, friendly people. I am very glad my life has brought me here.
