Nugget point

Yesterday I left the city. Now I'm in the Catlins. Today my host took me to Nugget point. In case you're wondering, New Zealand is full of these kind of amazing places :-D

Hare Krishna

My last two weeks in Dunedin I wwoofed with the Hare Krishna cultural centre. They had a big and beautiful house in the hills above the city centre. On Saturdays and Sundays they met to chant, sing, dance and feast. On Wednesdays there were more educational meetings. 

The job was serving lunch to the students. Some days we cooked for 300 people. It was fun to chat with the students and prepare the food. And all the Hare Krishnas were really nice. Some of the things they do and belive in actually make sense.

State of emergency

This is the view from my current bedroom window. It's usually a really nice view over central Dunedin. But today it's raining. It's been raining HEAPS. A state of emergency have been issued in Otago. A little troublesome for me as I had planned to move on to the Catlins today. Unfortunately the road south is closed due to flooding. I guess I'll stay put for now...

Dunedin

Dunedin är en stad i min smak. Kuperad, så liten att det går att promenera överallt i kärnan, men inte för liten, med vacker natur runt hörnet (på halvön), hav, stränder och berg vid horisonten. Dessutom finns mycket kultur och intressanta småsaker tack vare det stora universitetet. Med Nya Zeeländska mått är det en gammal stad med flera historiska byggnader.

Moeraki

Today Anna and Christian took me and two more friends for a ride in the car they'd just bought. First we went to Moeraki boulders. 

Then to Katiki point where we saw yellow eyed penguins and seals!

The most photographed building on the southern hemisphere

 This is Dunedin's train station. I've been told it's the most photographed building on the southern hemisphere. It's pretty! But there are not a lot of trains :-S

Otago Peninsula

I spent last weekend with my german friend Anna. She has come to Dunedin to study a semester abroad. Yesterday we went to Otago Peninsula. It was a stunning day. Nice weather, beautiful views and good company :-)
First we took the bus to Harrington point and walked to the Albatross café. We didn't do any of their tours but took part of the free exhibition and learnt some more about the wildlife in the sea surrounding this beautiful island.

All day we were spoiled with amazing scenery. Then we walked and hitchhiked... 

... all the way to Sandfly bay. There we had a look at seals and sea lions. 

They were entertaining even though most of them just relaxed. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't see any yellow eyed penguins. Apparently they don't return to shore until sunset. 

Alexandra

Yesterday I hitchhiked to Alexandra. It was a little chilly on the road. But I made it safely. Alexandra is pretty nice. I've been to the museum, they had an exhibition of wool fashion that was interesting. Then I did a couple of walks, the surroundings are nice. Tomorrow I'm off to Dunedin.

Makarora

The last couple of weeks I've been wwoofing in Makarora. I stayed at an organic farm with Carol and Raymond Edwards and their daughter Anna. Raymond is half Maori, it was very interesting to listen to everything he had to tell and learn more about their kind of farming. They had cows, hens, ducks, sheep, pigs, dogs and two very cuddly cats. This is Alfie the biggest. The other one, Sheldon, was my favourite, because Alfie sometimes forgot to pull in his claws.

My job was mostly to prune raspberries. But I also did some weeding, planted garlic, dug a hole and dried apples. It was a nice experience in a beautiful and special place :-)