Wow - what a week! I arrived to Dunedin on Saturday 27 June after 26 hours of travel, 20 of which were on a plane. I arrived exhausted, excited and a little hungry so after a quick shower (during which I broke my flat's shower door... whoops), I was off to the grocery store with a few friends. I went with two girls I met in line in customs in Auckland, and Caitlin (she goes to Iowa State with me and is also my next door neighbor)! Food is a little more expensive here than back home in Minnesota - dairy products are a lot more expensive but things like kiwifruit, bananas, bread and lamb are pretty cheap! I've stocked up on fruits and veggies and have been eating quite well.
After grocery shopping, we stopped at a café called the Good Earth. I was feeling pretty tired by then (3:30 pm), and was excited to try a wild rice salad and a hot honey/lemon/ginger juice. The food was OUTSTANDING. It's the dead of winter here, so the sun sets by about 5 or a little after. It really makes it hard to stay up late!
After grocery shopping, we stopped at a café called the Good Earth. I was feeling pretty tired by then (3:30 pm), and was excited to try a wild rice salad and a hot honey/lemon/ginger juice. The food was OUTSTANDING. It's the dead of winter here, so the sun sets by about 5 or a little after. It really makes it hard to stay up late!
Saturday night ended with unpacking the rest of my suitcase and hopping into bed by 8 pm.
The 28th brought a tour of campus and a long walk by the Otago Harbour. I woke up around 5:30 and waited patiently for 2 hours before the sky got any lighter! It was fun to see the clock tower and the beauty of the city I'm calling home for the next five months! When you Google "University of Otago", a picture of a magnificent clock tower pops up. It was really cool for me to finally see this clock in person, though my picture doesn't do it justice.
The 28th brought a tour of campus and a long walk by the Otago Harbour. I woke up around 5:30 and waited patiently for 2 hours before the sky got any lighter! It was fun to see the clock tower and the beauty of the city I'm calling home for the next five months! When you Google "University of Otago", a picture of a magnificent clock tower pops up. It was really cool for me to finally see this clock in person, though my picture doesn't do it justice.
After our scenic walk, Caitlin and I headed back to the grocery store... after a long night's rest, we were able to remember grocery essentials like cereal. Dunedin Botanic Garden is on the way to the grocery store, so we decided to stop. It was absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to go back and see more!
Around 3 pm, it felt like bed time so we stopped at Crusty's Corner Café for some coffee. I gave up caffeine for 2015 but I can't pass up on New Zealand coffee... I have taken a brief hiatus from this resolution, but will resume as soon as I return to the states! I got a cappuccino and it was well worth the caffeine - I stayed up until 9 pm that night!
On 29 June, I slept in until about 6 am. We (Caitlin and I) spent the day doing essential errands like setting up bank accounts, checking in with the University, and we tried to get New Zealand phones. However, the phone store along with about 1/10th of the town randomly lost power, so we decided to try another day. That night we ordered pizza from Hell. Literally... we live across the street from a pizza place called Hell's! We ordered Greed pizza, which was really Hawaiian. It was delicious.
30 June took Caitlin and I to the city center called the octagon. This was about 2 miles or 3.2 kilometres away from our flats. I didn't take many pictures because it was essentially one huge strip mall, but it was a beautiful day to be out exploring. We also found the Dunedin train station which reminded me of Kings Cross Station from Harry Potter :)
30 June took Caitlin and I to the city center called the octagon. This was about 2 miles or 3.2 kilometres away from our flats. I didn't take many pictures because it was essentially one huge strip mall, but it was a beautiful day to be out exploring. We also found the Dunedin train station which reminded me of Kings Cross Station from Harry Potter :)
1 July was the international student orientation program. I was a little underwhelmed by the presentation, but we got free lunch (pumpkin and sweet potato soup) and I got a few brochures for volunteering opportunities!
On Thursday morning I went for a very long, very slow and very cold jog. It felt strange to wear a hat and gloves in July, but I loved being outside to enjoy the scenery on a crisp morning!
Friday the 3rd took me to new heights. I climbed up Signal Hill (which I'm petitioning to be renamed Signal Mountain) with two of my roommates, Patrick and Jack, and a bunch of their friends. We climbed up and up and up for about 45 minutes, endured wind, rain, sleet and hail, but also got to see Dunedin from above and a rainbow. The view was stunning and definitely worth the challenging hike.
Friday the 3rd took me to new heights. I climbed up Signal Hill (which I'm petitioning to be renamed Signal Mountain) with two of my roommates, Patrick and Jack, and a bunch of their friends. We climbed up and up and up for about 45 minutes, endured wind, rain, sleet and hail, but also got to see Dunedin from above and a rainbow. The view was stunning and definitely worth the challenging hike.
Today, the 4th of July, Caitlin and I volunteered for most of our day. We went to Long Beach with 12 others through Otago's Botany Department. We protected the remaining populations of lepidium plants on the beaches by pulling out invasive weeds choking out the lepidium. We also went rockhopping, looked for penguins, scrambled around in caves and had the most beautiful view of the Pacific. We didn't see any pengiuns today, but we saw a lot of nests and a few footprints! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the weeds... I was too busy soaking up the view!
Tomorrow, 5 July, will most likely include a quick walk of my schedule and then class starts on Monday! My summer is coming to a close very quickly, though I suppose it's my winter now. I am having a very good experience in New Zealand so far and I am so happy to be here. I'm settled in to my flat, completely over my jet lag, and having some pretty cool experiences. Life is good :)