Perhaps it was the drier weather or the (slightly) warmer temperatures, but Herman and I fell in love with Dunedin, a city of 120,000+ people helped along by the Central Otago Gold Rush of the 1860s. The city is rich in culture and education (it’s home to the oldest university in New Zealand, the University of Otago), and aside from its more southerly location, would be an ideal retirement home for us, if only New Zealand would let us remain in the country permanently.
Before we arrived in Dunedin, we took a side trip to the Catlins, an area of native forest and rugged coastline in the Southeast of the South Island. Our main goal was to catch a glimpse of the yellow-eyed penguin, but our hopes remained dashed because these creatures are usually only visible along the coastline around sunset during this time of the year, which didn’t jive with our schedule. However, Herman had an amazing encounter of the first kind with two rather large seals (not sure of the type).
As you’ve figured out by now, New Zealand is rich in scenic outdoor areas that attract active people, so you can imagine this city girl’s delight to explore Dunedin. The first day, we took it pretty easy, taking in a couple of government buildings for their external architectural design, the city’s main art museum and a movie (“A Wrinkle in Time,” terrible movie!).
Day 2, we toured the Olveston Historic Home, built for Dunedin businessman, collector and philanthropist David Theomin and his family, and designed by acclaimed English architect Sir Ernest George. Everything about this Jacobean style home, from the interior to the grounds, was so well-planned out, that we caught ourselves taking notes for our future home, whatever and wherever that may be. We especially liked the small detached glass solarium that featured a diversity of colorful flowers and interesting greenery/plants and the “just-right” sized vegetable garden. Inside, each room was tastefully decorated with curated items (by curated I mean that someone put thought into how even the smallest statue or framed item fit with the theme of the room). Theomin’s daughter gifted the home and all its furnishings/décor to the city in the 1960s, so I can only assume that her parents were responsible for its outfitting. On an upper floor, in the game room, there was a huge pool table and a couch set on a raised platform so that spectators wouldn’t have to crane their necks to watch the action. My kind of people!
In the afternoon, we visited the Dunedin railway station, which is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand. The booking hall features a mosaic floor of almost 750,000 Minton tiles. The station is still functional, so we decided to book a sightseeing train along the Taieri Gorge for that Thursday.
On Thursday, we went to see the Larnach Castle, just outside of the city. Larnach, built by prominent entrepreneur and politician William Larnach, is not really a castle (though it sort of looks like one), and he referred to it as “The Camp.” But talk about your prime real estate! From the tower (reached by a DNA-style winding staircase with steps barely big enough to hold one foot, let along two), you can see the surrounding hills on one side and the ocean on the other. For a tourist site, the gardens were very peaceful, and the bell birds were in full song without fear of interruption. Larnach Castle was also delightful for Herman, who was finally allowed to take interior photos (for some reason, many historic homes frown on that). I really enjoyed taking in the polished wooded doorways with their raised decorative wood flowers and leaves. In one of the rooms, there was a display of women’s clothing and underthings from the time, using mannequins or framed as part of a painting.
After a detour drive along the coast, where we saw a lot of sheep, some looking like giant fleecy rolled-up Ace bandages with legs and heads, and still no penguins, we headed for the Dunedin train station. The train ride along the Taieri Gorge was amazing! Just when you think you’ve seen every facet of New Zealand scenery, it surprises you again. I tried not to fixate on the fact that we were basically balancing on Eifel Tower-like scaffolding whenever we crossed a bridge over the chasms. I’ll let Herman’s photos stand in for my words about the views.
Sadly, on Friday, we left Dunedin and the dry weather (sigh!), and headed for Oamaru. Due to the rain, there wasn’t much incentive for sightseeing, other than a stop for some lazy seals and mysterious round rocks, called Moeraki Boulders. When we got to the hotel in Oamaru, we basically threw our belongings into the room, ran in after them and called out for pizza.
Not to be outdone by the wet stuff, we toured the Steampunk HQ museum the next morning. For my science fiction/fantasy friends and fellow writers/readers, Steampunk needs no explanation, but for the rest of you, just think about the old television show “Wild, Wild West” and you’ll get an idea of what the genre entails. It was a lot of fun, especially when we experienced “The Portal.” Nearby, in an outdoor park, we saw a giant unicycle and some other cool sculptures.
Now, we were heading back into the more remote parts of the country as we drove toward Mount Cook. After spending the night in Twizel, we arrived to a wet but snow-covered display of mountains, pale blue lakes (caused by silt from the glacial run-off) and glaciers. For once, we scored with the hotel. The mountains filled the window view from both our living room and bedroom! Herman spent most of the next day hiking around, and I even managed a short hike to one of the glacial lake lookouts. Much to Herman’s frustration, the weather didn’t improve until the day we left, when we awoke to clear blue skies. To me, the rain gave the scenery a rather moody, mystical quality, but he preferred the snow-covered mountains sharply outlined by the blue sky. It also made the fading autumn colors stand out a little better.
Yesterday (Tuesday, May 1—the beginning of our last full month in New Zealand!!), we drove to Lake Tekapo and stumbled upon the Mount John University Observatory, sponsored by the University of Canterbury, at the top of a very high hill. We were both disappointed that we hadn’t been able to take advantage of the nightly star-gazing at the observatory because it had been RAINING until that morning. Below, in the little village, we stopped by the Church of the Good Shepherd, located right on the edge of the lake. Twenty years ago, when we visited this area, there was almost nothing touristy to mar the views and you had to hike a short trail to reach the church. Wow, what a difference, now that the world has discovered New Zealand!
Anyway, you are now up to date with our journey. Tomorrow (Thursday, May 3), we leave for Christchurch, where we will remain for five whole days! Meanwhile, we are in Timaru in a motel with such terrible beds, that if you wanted to elicit a confession from a suspected criminal, just force him to try and sleep on this mattress and he would be admitting his guilt (whether true or not) within the hour. Cheers!
Trambling 
Aha!!! With all your travels so far, Dunedin has captured your hearts so much so that you are thinking of retiring there! 😊 Well, you still have quite some traveling to do in New Zealand (and Australia), so I am sure there will be more cities (with more possibilities) that await you two that may capture your hearts. 😊
Thank you both so much for sharing your wonderful traveling experiences!
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It’s so nice to be home and to read your blog again! I’ve been so exhausted that I’m just now catching up with my emails. Love you!
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