Dunedin
Alex has officially started his first day of work and I am once again aimlessly trying to fill my days. I had a job today but it got cancelled about an hour before it started. So instead of being productive I read a book about pseudoscience, ate some ridiculously spicy noodles that turned my stomach into a tightly coiled fiery lump, then took an exceptionally long bike ride to try and see if it would get rid of the lightning pains. It did, temporarily, but as I write this I am back in the throngs of agony. I should have known better when the little Asian lady at the Asian grocery asked me if I was SURE I wanted to buy them. Lesson learned.
So we spent this weekend in Dunedin because our friend Jake bought a car there and needed help getting it back. We decided to have one last little travel before our “careers” started so after work on Friday we hopped in Jake’s car and took off. It is about a three hour trip away and quite scenic for the first half until it flattens out back into the hill country dotted with fluffy sheep. Its lambing season so there are about a billion baby lambs frolicking about and I am not sure anything is cuter.
Despite Dunedin’s status as a pretty major New Zealand city we were extremely disappointed in the food selection. We got there around ten on Friday night and everything was closing up shop. We settled for Subway and Kebabs which we ate at a random park bench in the city, then went to bed early to cut our losses and try to see the city in the morning.
Saturday was much better. I don’t find the city particularly nice, it is one of the oldest cities in New Zealand and many of the buildings have a rundown look to them. There’s a lot of shopping which is nice but it just kind of lacks charm… although I feel like I’m biased since Queenstown in my opinion is the cutest city ever. Despite its flaws, it does have my favorite thing ever, which of course is the ocean and I loved hitting up the beaches again. The eastern coast oceans where just as wild and violent as the west coast and the weather was a bit warmer than up in the mountains making it an excellent day to chase after seals and sea lions. (Some people tell me these are the same animal, some people tell me they are different, I genuinely have no idea.)
Alex barely survived. I’m exaggerating but at one point we all considered starting life over there on the miles of open empty sand dunes. It was one of the hardest hikes I’ve ever done and there wasn’t even a mountain, just soft sand that we’d sink into about a foot with every step.
We tried to get a photo together on timer until the tide sneaked up. It swept my shoes away but luckily they floated back weighing about ten pounds more then they used to.
But even with my shoes soaked and a death march, I still love the ocean more than anywhere in the world.
ANDDDDD…..
A whale!!!!!! You probably can’t tell but its totally there. Oh I wish I had been on that boat. Guess we will have to go again.
Alex will give a full report on his job soon, he hasn’t returned yet but I’m going to go lay down and hope that this Asian demon food isn’t the end of me.
More to read
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- Flights, Ferries & Fantastical Hair
- Becoming German
- DIY: I Spy Goody Bag to Entertain Your Kids on an Airplane
- Suitcases of Humanity: How to Become More Than Just a Tourist on Your Next Trip
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- Hola, Hot Tamales!