Oh, Dunedin…
What a relief to be back in Dunedin & have a place to get out and explore for a few days. With friends (well, new ones, anyway). After Clinton, George Street almost felt like NYC.
Friday was pretty chill; spent the afternoon at Starbucks (I know) where the WIFI was actually free & somewhat unlimited. Then, the rest of the evening I just hung out with Dana & her flat-mates. Saturday was a big day.. Starting bright & early before 8am, waking up to Snoop Dogg three flats away, everyone with tickets to the annual Hyde St. party was getting all kinds of decked out in awesomely ridiculous costumes. The rest of us…? We took pictures at the gates, went to the Farmers Market, & then back to the flats for a non-Hyde St. counter-party. (Did I mention that I kinda feel old now, compared to all of these uni kids?? Yeah, I do). Ohh, and rewind to the Farmers Market.. it’s next to the Dunedin Railway Station, which is supposed to be NZ’s most photographed building, and similar to the good ones in the States, you can get anything from fruits & veggies to breads, dips, wines, cheeses, meats, seafood, plants, hot food for lunch or breakfast, etc. SO, I get this amazing savory venison crepe with cheese, cabbage & carrot salad with a wine reduction dressing…. that was about as big as my face. It was glorious in every way, and I ate the whole damn thing. Yum. I’ll have to post that pic at some point as well… though it absolutely will not do justice to the degree of yumminess I experienced.
Anyway, after an afternoon of card games & shenanigans, a group of us went out to do the Speights Brewery Tour (the original ale house to open in NZ), where at the end, they turn you loose at the taps to pour as much beer as you can drink in 45 min (deliiiightful, with six different options). Afterwards, I ashamed to say that I stayed in for the rest of the night as my sore throat/cough has been hovering the last few days & started feeling like it was back for another round again… and everyone else went back out downtown. Yup, old lady here. (But I did book a hostel for Te Anau….so I felt moderately productive). And, unlike everyone else this morning, I was up at 8 feeling quite lovely. Ha. Suckers 😉
Sunday was another gorgeous day.. 21C (70ish F) so after wandering briefly through the botanical gardens, I caught a bus out to St. Claire beach (which was more time-consuming than my time on the beach… gotta love public transport on Sundays). Went down to the beach with my pack & walked around a bit (note: the sand away from the beach was softer than the sand closer to the beach…?), then just hung out around town & took pictures of the surfers before heading back.
So, today I am going to be a little more ambitious… hoping it all works as planned 🙂
merrylittlemisfit 