The Southern Sea

With the bus back to Dunedin leaving so early, my brother and I had the good fortune of being able to spend a good portion of the day there. The bus arrived just before 13:00 and we once again made out way back to Hogwartz. This time we were put up in what must have once been the master bedroom and still at only $27/night each. What a fantastic deal.

However, before we god back to Dunedin we had to cross the southern lands we had crossed only a few days previous. I was surprised to see that it had snowed a bit since we had been through and some hills had a light dusting of the white powder. The snow wasn't even that far from the road so it must have been chilly those last few nights. We also drove passed row upon row of sheep grazing. Since this is spring, there were many lambs about. We also made our way back across the raging Clutha River, which seemed even more full.

After unpacking our things at Hogwartz, I decided to take a walk to the southern portion of Dunedin, where the city meets the sea. Along the way, I stopped into the Dunedin Railway Station again and was pleased to find the Taieri (tahy-EH-ree) Gorge train waiting on the platform. This is a tourist train which runs north from Dunedin to Middlemarch, through part of the Taieri Gorge, which is supposedly very scenic. Many years ago, as train travel fell out of favour most of the Taieri Railway, which ran to Alexandra, was uprooted and only a last ditch effort by Dunedin saved this one portion. Where the track once was is now a hiking trail and some people do get off the train in Middlemarch and continue the journey further north on foot.

I continued walking until I found St. Kilda Beach, a beach to the south of Dunedin. It was quite spectacular to look at the ocean and know that if you were to keep going, it would be many thousands of kilometers before you would sight land again. At that point, you would be in Antarctica. I managed to get a few picture before, much to my chagrin, my camera's battery died. I can only leave you to imagine the picture I wanted to take. Think of black rain clouds slowly moving across a vast expanse of churning blue-green water. Then imagine that the sun comes out, only for a moment, illuminating the sea and creating a marvelous contrast with the black clouds behind; that's what I wanted to capture but couldn't.

I walked along the beach for a while before heading back into the city. There wasn't much to do after that, and nothing else that I wanted to see so my brother and I finished off the day with dinner at another fine establishment on the Octagon.

Dunedin is a place I think I could spend a few days getting to know. It's a very intriguing city both for its architecture and its geography. Not too far, on the Otago Peninsula, is Larnach Castle, New Zealand's only. There is also a colonies of albatrosses and yellow-eyed penguins. Try as it might, though, Dunedin will never take the place of the high country for me, but I wouldn't mind losing a few days in this southern haven.