dunedin

We spent last night in Dunedin at the On Top Backpacker. It was an apartment styled hostel that was on top of the lobby/pool room combo. Alison, Heather, and I shared a six person room which felt smaller than most single rooms in a home. It was a fun place right in the heart of the city. We walked through the unique Scottish city centre, which features two octagon-shaped roundabouts, one inside the other. It was the Chinese New Year, so there was a parade through town and fireworks later at night. We passed by the First Church of Dunedin, a beautiful old stone church sitting on a hill. This reminds me of the church on the hill in Guelph.

For dinner we went to the Velvet Burger Respect, where I had my first ginger beer. This drink is not like the ones at home; it is a lemony ginger ale that tastes quite nice. In the basement of this restaurant, I found out that this place was the product of the Maori and the first settlers both running out of food and making this burger, with respect. It was quite the modest story. After our late dinner, the showers and beds were calling our names.

In the morning we ventured out into the streets of Dunedin, only to find that maybe we packed too much in our backpacks. Our legs, arms, necks, and backs are definitely going to be in good shape after these next few weeks! 

But anyway, we went to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens first. These were very nice and had different areas of interest, such as the garden cafe, the aviary room, and a native collection, and rhododendron collection. From here we walked a few more blocks to see Baldwin Street, which is claimed to be the steepest street in the world. There were people ambitious enough to bring mountain bikes to the top of the road, just to ride them down. They came so fast right into the small crowd standing at the bottom of the mountain. Right before we were about to leave, somebody from the top of the hill dropped their water bottle.. It made its way to the bottom in about four seconds before it came to a stop. On our way to catch the bus to Te Anau, we walked through the University of Otago, which is the first University in New Zealand. It was a nice place with typical grungy-looking student houses, a lot of pedestrian walkways, and narrow streets.

First Church

a nice bench in Dunedin Botanical Gardens

Heather and Alison in the Chinese New Year Parade