A Light-hearted Trip to Dunedin

Salutations to all!

On my four days off, Rowen, Philipe, Nina, and I went on a road trip to Dunedin which is located on the east coast of the south part of the South Island. All was gay and merry while on the road. I have pictures to prove it. Here they are:

We commandeered a 1943 Toyota Corolla we borrowed from a friend named Sarah. I would guess it is 6.23 horsepower with five gears and a break pedal that was probably borrowed from a riding lawnmower. This car could not accelerate up even the smallest hill! We made many stops for beautiful pictures. In this particular beautiful picture, Rowen is making believe he is a hitchhiker, a super cool hitchhiker. I also took a picture too.

And here it is. Doesn't it remind you of the logo of that one film company where the lightening bolt laser-beams down onto the car or road or something??? This is a good lesson in perspective. How many kinds of perspective can you name, students?


Just to make sure, Officers, I was wearing my seat belt. My faux hawk was also helping steer the car.


We stopped at Te Anau Downs because this awesome vista punched us right in the face.


We stayed at a hostel in Dunedin called "Hogwartz." This is a picture of our room which had four beds (none of them bunks) and our own sink. It was very very excellent. Note to the future backpacking traveler: travel in groups of four. That way you pay the same price as everyone else, but you usually can get your own room (because rooms are often "quads"). Note to the future sesquipedalian: "quad" means four, so a 'quad' has four beds in it. Beds you sleep in.


This is the hostel owner...

uhhimm!!! Excuse me (I had something in my throat)

owner'ses dog. It would put on a miniature visor and do the taxes.


Speaking of Hogwartz, doesn't this building look like something out of Harry Potter!?! Well you're wrong! It is actually the Dunedin train depot. It is designed in the Flemish Renaissance style, which does not mean that it is covered in mucus, but rather bricks– bricks that were quarried from the Otago peninsula. I heard that the depot is haunted, but then I realized that it was myself telling myself that.



Here is what the inside looks like. It was so busy in there that I was almost swept off my feet by the busy mob. Just kidding, it was deserted. Students, how many kinds of perspective do you seen in this photo?



For breakfast the next morning, we went to this cafe called "Governors," which I had fun saying the way ignorant Americans think that the English accent sounds (to Rowen and Nina's entertainment).


When I was directed to the bathroom up the stairs, I was about to take a bath when I realized that the tub was actually filled with fish. It was a fish aquarium!!!


Later that day, Nina went to go see the new Twilight movie the seventh time while Rowen, Philipe, and I went to the St. Clair Beach with hopes of going surfing. To our dismay, we found that the wind was probably gusting at 60mph creating a monstrous surf that would have murdered us all. It was also way too cold for me to get wet. So we ended up going to the St. Clair salt water pool.


The water was a sizzling 28 degrees, Celcius, which was 8 degrees warmer than the air. This should have registered to me before I payed my NZ$5.50 for admission, but it didn't so I was freezing most of the time. That small pool looked like a hot tub from my view, but was actually a freezing tub that was about two feet deep. Maybe it was a kiddy pool? We all found ourselves using the free goggles they gave us and swimming laps to stay warm.


After swimming we went down to the beach because we wanted to get blown to smithereens by the mutant wind monster and get sand blasted into every orifice we possessed. This picture shows the linear wisps of sand the wind would kick up as it howled by us.


But the dedicated photographers did not waiver. They still took framable pictures of wind-demolished piers like this one.


Later that day, the travelers drove along the Otago peninsula to the tip where one can find the Royal Albatross Center where you have to pay NZ$40 to see a frickin' wild albatross!!! We, on the other hand, felt that free would have been a better price, so we went over to the edge of where unpaid patrons could wonder with hopes of seeing an albatross.


I think I could make one out so I got my money's worth, right??? I could also see another funny New Zealand bird called a "Shag" living on the cliffs. They look kind of like a penguin, but are a flying bird.


Normally, I wouldn't willfully go to a place with "sandfly" in its name (this was called Sandfly Bay), but with the wind being as crazy as it was, I was sure all the sandflies were located in Australia by then, so we were sandfly-free. Warm, on the other hand, we were not.


This is the lighthouse at Nugget Point. It was drizzling by this time, which was a relief because if it were full out raining, we would have died. The wind was blowing rain into us like BBs.


Here is the beautiful view from Nugget Point. For some reason, whenever I hear the word "nugget," I get hungry for Chicken McNuggets. Damn you McDonalds!!! Why must you steel such wonderful words from me!?!?!


This is Purakaunui Falls, which looks kind of like a wedding cake to me. Actually as I write this, everything looks like food because I am so hungry right now. I haven't eaten since breakfast....


Mmmm, cotton candy..............

On the highway before we reached Te Anau, we were hit by a stunning sunset. The sunset was so beautiful that it surrounded us and I couldn't figure out how to give it justice with a mere photograph so I took a video too, but it is too big to upload. Sorry.

And now, I must eat something with melted cheese in it.

Until next time. :)