life, dunedin style

Ask and you shall receive, they always say. People have been wondering what I’m up to.

You all know I took a nice long road trip out of Paihia to Auckland, but I sort of stopped the story there. You see, my plans were vague. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was tagging along with friends on a camping trip and we had grand ideas for the five days we would be together.

I’ll write up a massive post about that soon – I promise.

But what I want to talk about today is life, Dunedin style. I’m head over heels for this city. The architecture! The people! The wildlife! The scenery!

I moved into a new flat, bought a car, found a job, made some friends, and saw my first ever albatross. I’d say that’s a pretty solid start to the next four months. I’m often asked, “Why Dunedin?”

How could you NOT love a city where everyone is so freaking nice, the weather is sunny, and there are penguins and sea lions nearby?

How could you NOT love a city that is near to the bottom of the world, a city that is surrounded by some of the most impressive landscapes ever, where trees grow sideways because of the Southerlies?

How could you NOT love a city that doesn’t feel like a city, a city that’s actually more of a big town, where the person I bought my car from is married to a woman who is best friends with the mother of my coworker? (And I did not know this connection until I was well into the buying process.)

How could you NOT love a city where the Winter Carnival is not Santa-themed, because Christmas is in summer and all that jazz, but where they instead make it whimsically alien and “futuristic”?

A city where you can stand in a creek and see glowworms? Where the views from all of the surrounding peaks are phenomenal? Where the world’s steepest street is – and people actually walk up it.

It reminds me of Scotland – and it should – its Dun Edin for Edinburgh, of course. If you ever needed more proof that I’m only a little bit obsessed with Scotland, its here, in Dunedin.