Dunedin, NZ
Often when writing a blog entry we look back on the last few articles in order to remind ourselves where we left off. This time we reviewed the road trip video and, well, frankly… Wow, that was a terrible resolution. Not to mention a terribly long video. Since we are writing these trip entries for ourselves as much as you all and since there is no way we’re going to leave that on the site we redid the road trip. Each entry from then until now just got a new and different 1 minute clip of our adventures driving down the coast. Because road trips are all about the little things like cows stopping traffic and “ocean golf.” So if you wanted to see all the little things like Tiffany dancing in a kiwi hat and Greg’s adventures with roundabouts, that’s where they are.
The Kiwi road trip continues!
When New Zealand was colonized, most of the Scottish settlers ended up heading down to the bottom of the South Island. Since pretty much everyone else settled on the opposite side of the country it does beg the question, “why?”
We can only assume it felt like home to them down there. It’s cold (and for New Zealand, that’s saying something), mountainous & green – if you can stand the lack of anything approaching a feasible similarity to warmth then Southern New Zealand is a sight to behold. The Scots, it appears, were born and bred for this kind of weather based on our observation of their sports of choice:
We would like to remind you that while windsurfing along at over 50Km/hr (about 30+ mph) they need to be sure not to hit the PENGUINS that are swimming in those NEAR ARCTIC waters with them! That would be the Great Southern Ocean there. Also known as the ocean that surrounds Antarctica.
Though their custom designed Victorian style train station is the crowning glory of the city’s impressive architecture, it is not a world record holder in any respect. That particular honor lies with a little known and hard to find street just outside the downtown area:
No, mom did not let Greg drive up. Yes, Greg walked/climbed up it. No, you can’t run up it without a few months cardio training beforehand (at least) and finally yes, down was easier.
Dunedin is the university center of center of New Zealand which leads to a few interesting facts –
1) Out of the city population of 100,000, 25% are attending one of the many universities located here. A full quarter of their city’s populace is comprised completely of college students.
2) On the upside, this makes Dunedin very responsive to the wants and needs of the younger generations. Consequently, this is the only city in New Zealand and only the second in the entire South Pacific that provides free Wi-Fi internet! You just walk down the Octagon at the city center and log on! Now if they would just provide power plugs in the central Octagon.
Oh, and their town square is an octagon. No real reason, just is.
The only other place to give us any free internet in the entire Pacific was a little village ice cream shop on tiny single island nation of Niue.
Greg and Tiffany are traveling around the world on sailing yachts and keep a video blog of their (mis)adventures. If sailing to Tahiti on a 44 ft sailboat, 3-day delays for wine tastings, getting pooped on by seagulls, opening coconuts with dull machetes, sailing past tornadoes and ukulele Christmas carols are for you, then check them out at www.CoastGuardCouple.com!
