Dunedin

Dun(i)eden, Dun(i)edin,
what will be written about this city?

The town in the Otago district is, in my opinion, a mixture of San Francisco and a small Scottish village (as I imagine it, since I have never been to Scotland). There are super steep streets - I wondered how often the city's residents have to get new brake discs - and pretty cool graffiti keeps cropping up between the streets and alleyways. I particularly recognized Freddy Mercurie among them - but I was behind the wheel and so couldn't take a spontaneous snapshot. The houses are either the classic American wooden construction or they are more stable-looking brick houses that never go above the second floor and are built in rows up the hills. The town center consists of many old buildings, half of which seem to be an old church.

After spending an extra night at the campsite so I could explore the city the next day and do a bit of blogging, the day began with a visit to the farmer's market. This always takes place on Saturdays on the site of the old train station. So I parked nearby and set off.

I didn't buy anything from the "Bacon Buttie Man" but I was quite amused by his logo! My enthusiasm for these markets is always limited to one particular type of stall: bread stalls! New Zealanders can bake bread but somehow they only seem to be able to do it on Fridays, which is why they always bring the bread to the market. I haven't found a decent baker in any city yet. I won't even start on the bread from the supermarkets - even though the quality is definitely better than in the USA. BUT: At the markets I always found at least one bread stall that sells a decent rye or other sourdough bread and also sells something unusual like olive and onion bread. Accordingly, I try to visit the markets regularly and get hold of some good bread. After the successful market visit, I went into the city center. It is not particularly big, but still huge compared to the other "cities" here.

The city center consists of an octagon in which the various churches and "important" buildings have been built. From this octagon, a cross street leads to the east and west, and this is where the various shops and cafes have been built. Dunedin also has a public art gallery, which operates on a donation basis. I also looked at this and found a few highlights. Unfortunately, two of the various exhibitions were closed, but there was a small room in which all kinds of painting equipment was on display and visitors could artistically create their own version and vision of the mountains in New Zealand. I think I sat on the floor here for 45 minutes and just painted and printed a little and it was wonderful!

Then we went to the local blogspot - aka the Starbucks in Dunedin - for a few hours. I wrote you a few updates there and then we went on to Middlemarch. It's on a plateau about an hour north of Dunedin. I really wanted to go here because some scenes from The Hobbit were filmed here. Plus, the landscape is just worth a visit!

You will see this when you read the next post.

To Dun(i)eden,
Your Britta