Chocolate, Students and the Worlds Steepest Street
Trip Start
Sep 02, 2007
1
45
61
Trip End
Feb 28, 2008
Where I stayed
Hogwartz Hostel
Dunedin, New Zealand
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The beach was not exactly perfect but we found a nice log to sit on and enjoy the sea air. A little way up the cliff and along a path was a hide for watching yellow-eyed penguins come ashore in the late afternoon. Although we were early for that, it was worth a look there because just over the fence were a couple of baby penguins awaiting feeding time. They were fluffy and very cute!
Back in the car we were Dunedin bound. We didn't realise how hilly the city was until we arrived and our hostel, Hogwartz, was sat on one of these hills and parking on the surrounding streets wasn't the easiest. Once we had parked and removed our bags we settled in and went for a little exploring before eating an Italian meal (i.e. Pizza!).
We'd set the next day as a day to see all of Dunedin's sights. Our first stop was Cadbury World but we didn't do the tour as it couldn't possibly compare to Bourneville could it?! They do have quite an impressive Crunchie pyramid though.
The train station might not sound like a great place to see but the building itself is quite pretty inside and out. It also houses the NZ Sports Hall of Fame that we had a look around, even though we hadn't heard of most of the people in it. We did manage to ride a racing bike to see how fast we could go though! There were also a few small art galleries that were woth a look.
Along the road from the station is the Otago Museum. Although the museum is very impressive (especially the maori exhibition), it was fair to say we were suffering a bit of a museum overload as we'd been to so many on our travels. The Botanical Gardens of Dunedin are really nice with a massive rose garden in the middle and plenty of big trees to lie under to enjoy on such a hot day.
A little way out of town is Baldwin Street, very proud to be the steepest street in the world (according to the Guinnes Book of Records anyhow). We didn't plan to walk all the way to the top but we couldn't resist in the end and we climbed the many steps to enjoy the view from the top. There were some freaks trying to jog up and others who drove to the top, first gear all the way!
On the way back to the hostel we stopped off for a couple of massive ice creams, it was lucky we didn't have lunch that day! After dinner we watched 'Death at a Funeral' at the local cinema.
The next day we were heading cross country to Te Anau...
Love Mark and Theresa xxxxxxxx
