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My New Zealand trip inspired 28 pages of journal and hundreds of photos. I had to select among the photos. The last shall be first on this blogsite, so to follow my progress day by day go to number 1 in the New Zealand theme.. Each text page is followed by a photo page.

(continued)   A few minutes later an Asian woman was shown into room. I felt revived after sitting for a little while so I tagged along on the tour of the hostel. I’m glad I did. The computer room was particularly hard to find. It was great to discover Betty’s has free internet, though slow and with three computers.

Kim Song Su is from Korea and we hit it off immediately. I chose to call her Suki because her English name is Sue and I didn’t want confusion. Soon we were leaving to explore the town together. At the neo-gothic Anglican Cathedral we were given a personal tour by a lovely gentleman who was likely a verger or canon or one of those other obscure Anglican words. Then we walked around the main street and had coffee in Starbucks, talking so long that when we left it was almost time for dinner. Suki wanted something spicy and the first possibility we saw was Indian. This time the meal was delicious and I introduced her to some of my favourite dishes and to Lhassi, the beautiful yoghurt drink that is at its best when flavoured with the delicate original rose flavour. She loved the food and I thought ruefully of my unsatisfactory eating experience with Elaine in Greymouth.

Betty’s was offering an evening trip to the penguin colony and we both wanted to go on it but our conversation was so absorbing that we lost track of time and missed it. Eventually the staff brought us the bill to give us the hint they wanted to close up.

‘Rabbie Burns’, Robert Burns, Scotland’s favourite poet in Dunedin

When we returned to Betty’s I wrote up yesterday’s journal and went to bed. Suki showered and went to the lounge perhaps to chat and meet people. A funny thing happened at the Indian. She received a call on her cell phone from her mother in Korea. Her mother was very impressed she was having dinner with a Westerner and became somewhat reconciled to her being in New Zealand. She thought her daughter must be very good at English and said she was proud of her. Suki’s English is pretty good.

Day twenty

I slept late but saw Suki in the kitchen. She planned to go to the Brewery and Chocolate factory tours and I hoped to find a wildlife tour. We left independently. On the way out I talked to the guy who takes the night excursion parties and told him I’d be there that evening.

Breakfast was Subway again and I saw Suki walking past as I ate. Just along the road I spotted her sitting outside the iSite in the octagon area. I was going there to look for my tour so I snuck up behind and pulled her hair. Ok! So there’s still a little boy in me. She enjoyed the surprise anyway. The weather was sunny so she had decided to leave the indoor tours till next day and explore more by walking. I didn’t offer to go with her because I knew I would slow her down. In the iSite I decided the wildlife tours were too expensive for me and walked out and down the hill where I discovered something worth looking at.

First I saw the Court building and took some pictures then turned my focus on the elegant but large building across the way. I wondered if it was the University but to my surprise it was the railway station. I read that it was built in the Flemish style. Inside, in the entrance Hall, I was thrilled that the interior is Art Nouveau, perhaps my very favourite decorative style. I have many lovely photos of it in all its detail. It reminded me of the entrance hall of the Argyle Motor Works in my native Vale of Leven.

Courthouse Dunedin with the grand Railway Station in the distance

In the centre of Dunedin is the Octagon, basically a grassy central park with eight streets forming the sides of the octagon. A statue of Robert Burns, stands in pride of place there. He was a poet, beloved of Scots all over the world, a drunk with a bad reputation and a lover of life and nature. This, more than anything, shows Dunedin’s Scottish origins. Here’s a Burns website: http://www.robertburns.org

I went to the Octagon to see the Art Gallery but lunched first at one of its cafés. Sadly, the two menu items I desired most were unavailable, Steak and Guiness Pie and Lamb’s Fry. Imagine, a shortage of  lamb’s liver in New Zealand! I remember my late great-aunt Ruby, a real old Aussie, introducing me to Lamb’s Fry. She made it superbly and it is a dish that is either badly cooked or tender and tasty.

After a very plain lunch I went to the Art Gallery and really enjoyed it. The highlights for me were a Japanese collection and a collection of European Paintings. The Japanese woodblock prints came from a private collection and were mainly works by the masters Hiroshige and Hokusai along with others. There was a collection that contained a good selection of European art from Renaissance to last century. Numerous great names were included. Once again a group of colonial works left me unimpressed. Let me not forget a nice little collection of works centred on the achievements of Audubon. (to be continued)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 11:37 pm and is filed under New Zealand, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.