We left Auckland for the airport at about 5am on Sunday morning. Getting through security and checking our bags at the Auckland airport was so easy I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t have to show any form of identification even once, which is so different than how it is in the U.S. After a short flight spent entirely asleep, we arrived in Dunedin at about 9:30am. Our group split up into three large vans to get to our dorms. We are staying at the University of Otago in Dunedin. We are staying at the University College dorm, or what they call “Unicol”. Our driver was telling us a few things about Dunedin on the ride there. One thing I found really interesting that he told us was that in Dunedin, and in New Zealand in general, you can experience four seasons in one day. This kind of reminded me a little bit of what we experience at home. One day it will be snowing, and the next day you’ll get a sunburn.
We got settled into our new dorms for a few hours and ate some lunch. Once 2 o’clock rolled around, we went for what Adam called a “mild walk”. This “mild walk” turned out to be about a six mile hike uphill. Before getting dropped off at the hiking trail, we stopped on the way up at Signal Hill Lookout. Signal Hill is north of the head of the Otago Harbor and reaches an elevation of about 1,289 feet. As you can imagine, the view was incredible. After stopping at Signal Hill, we started our hike up Mount Cargill. Mount Cargill, known in Maori as “Kapukataumahaka” is 2,218 feet high, and dominates the skyline of Dunedin. To be considered a “hike” in New Zealand, it has to last at least a day, so what we did was considered a “walk”. I was not prepared for this 6 mile “walk” up a mountain, but it ended up being a lot of fun. We were all completely winded (those of us with asthma more so than others), but getting to the top was really rewarding, and the view was gorgeous. After catching our breath, and taking a few pictures, our group made our way down the mountain, which was a lot more enjoyable than going uphill. We experienced exactly what our driver had been describing to us about going through four seasons in one day. When we stopped at Signal Hill Lookout on the way to our walk, it was freezing cold and extremely windy, and even started to drizzle a little bit. By the time we had finished our walk, we had peeled all of our layers off because it was sunny and hot. You have to be prepared for every kind of weather on a daily basis here.
After a long day of hiking and amazing views, we went home to quickly get ready for dinner. We had dinner at a restaurant called Reef in downtown Dunedin. It was nice to see everyone get dressed up for dinner, and get to eat some delicious food. After dinner, we went to one of the bars downtown. Unfortunately, since it was a Sunday night during Dunedin’s summer, the town was pretty quiet at that point due to the lack of students, but it was fun to be able to go out with Adam and his kiwi friend Vaughn, who taught us a little bit about some different aspects of New Zealand culture. For example, some of the phrases kiwis use include: “sweet as”, “good as gold”, “heaps” and “wee”.
Monday morning started off with a lecture from Dr. Douglas Booth. This one might have been my favorite lecture so far. He talked to us about the surf culture in New Zealand. He mentioned how surfing is more than just about the surfers themselves; it involves a lot of people in the community. He discussed the politics of surfing, the soul of surfing, gendered surfing, and the history of surfing. He also talked about the social history of surfing including the surf literature, film, and music.
After our morning lecture, we had some lunch and then met up with Adam’s friend, Vaughn, once again. He then taught us how to play cricket inside with a tennis ball. This was a lot more fun than I had expected, and was a great way to learn how to play cricket, something I never had played before. As a group, we picked it up rather quickly, and it was a great bonding activity. After playing cricket for about an hour, some of the girls and I took some free time to walk downtown and do some shopping until we had to go back for dinner. After dinner, some of us went downtown again to what they call the “Octagon”. The Octagon is considered the center of the city in Dunedin. It is an eight-sided plaza (hence being called the Octagon) that is bisected by the main street of town, George Street. There is a large park there where people can relax on the grass, and there are also a bunch of bars and restaurants. We went to an Irish pub called The Craic for an hour or two, which was a lot of fun, and then we headed home for the night.
