Dunedin

So last weekend I went to Dunedin. I got up really early (a lot earlier than it turned out I needed to) and got down to the Intercity Bus Station. The bus ride was nice and fairly uneventful. We got in early and I waited about 10 minutes or so for Dennis, one of my hosts in Dunedin. He was a Maori guy who has worked as a music therapist working with a lot of kids, often using traditional Maori song and dance, such as the haka. He was a really cool and chill guy. We hung out on the University of Otago campus (which reminded me of OSU's campus in a weird way) until his wife, Viktoria, my other host, was done with her lectures. Then we went out to a Japanese restaurant, which was alright (perhaps not as quite as good as Aomatsu back in old Corvallis--I think I've been getting slowly but increasingly homseick for home over the past few weeks). We went back to their house in Brighton (a few minutes outside Dunedin), and watched TV through the static. Dunedin was noticeably colder than Christchurch, making me grateful for the heater in my room. The next day, Dennis and I went out to the Dunedin Farmer's Market (I've got to one of those whenever i get the oppurtunity, now don't I?), where we got, amongst other things, purple carrots. Apparently they're a heritage breed or something. Once we got back, Viktoria and I went out to the Otago peninsula and walked around various locations on the beaches looking for animals. We saw seals, shags, some other sea birds, and sea lions (those last on the beach at Sandfly Bay, which we were able to get surprisingly close to, which was I think my high point for the trip). We also saw what was probably a penguin, but it was kinda far away, and it didn't want to get out of the water. I did see its tracks though. That night we watched Back to the Future 3, a pretty fun movie all around. The next day, Viktoria drove me into town and dropped me off at the Otago Museum. They had a pretty good exhibit on Pacific Cultures. It was cool to see Rarotongan stuff and go "hey, I've been there." I also have a desire to visit somewhere in Melanesia now. There was also the Animal Attic, which had a lot of stuffed animals. After that I walked over to the bus stop, and because I still had some time, I walked a little farther to find food, which I did in a Vietnamese restaurant where I got takeaway pho, which was nice in the cold weather. The bus back to Christchurch was a double-decker (something I'd never seen before in an intercity transit bus), and I decided to sit on the top. It was similarly uneventful. I had a bit of excitement where I was unsure whether or not a particular stop on Christchurch was the best one for me, but it turned out that my gamble paid off, because it was only about a 5-10 minute walk to my flat. All in all it was a fun trip, and Viktoria and Dennis (and Teisia, their very cute baby) were very nice. Also during this trip I finished up my book of folktales and started Firebirds, which I finished today. I shall write reviews of them soon. Anyways, Ta!