A hankering for the city

The honeymoon is over. It’s time for asphalt and nightlife, traffic noise and the cinema, art galleries and trendy cafes. I came to New Zealand for the clean green farms, and what do I do but go and pine for the urban life.

Kristin, Brian and I visited Dunedin, a college town of about 150,000 on the southeast coast of the south island, back in late April. We all wanted to stay longer than a day to explore all the second-hand bookstores, the cute cafes, views of the sea, and many, many hills. While Kristin took in the beautiful coastal views of the nearby Otago Peninsula, Brian and I explored the Dunedin Public Art Gallery (Brian found a great documentary film on possum hunters and I snagged a free note-card for Mother’s Day). Most cities have a town square, but Dunedin went all out and got itself an Octagon, home to all the most popular shops, bars, cafes, the art gallery, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and some lovely white Christmas lights on trees.

In May, I went back to visit my friends Katharina and Torben (remember the Germans I met in January?) for a few days. Katharina is employed part-time as a German teacher at Otago Girls High School for the winter term (May-July), so I have taken every opportunity to stay with them in their rented room on Royal Terrace. I liked Dunedin (and Katharina and Torben) so much that I decided to set up camp at Elm Lodge, a lovely and homey backpackers with a view of the sea and lots of free DVDs. For two weeks I ate a slow breakfast (usually including plenty of organic yogurt and fresh cream), and then walked down to the Octagon to spend a few hours in the Dunedin Public Library, reading my new favorite book, The Secret Life of Plants. Lunch was either PB&J outside the library or some tasty organic meal with Katharina at a lovely café near her school. Evenings I met Katharina for sushi or coffee or a movie. One Sunday we took the bus over to St. Kilda Beach and watched the wind blow the waves and the sand and sat on top of a sand-dune to eat pie dough baked with cinnamon and sugar. What a treat it is to have a friend.

Top 10 Things To Do in Dunedin
10.Go to the library. The Dunedin Public Library is open from 9am-8pm Monday through Friday. 8:00pm! And there are people reading all over until closing time. Amazing.
9.Make Christmas pudding and pumpkin pie for Christmas in June. Both are best eaten with plenty of fresh cream.
8.Frequent the $2/hour internet café, located above the Friendly Khmer Satay Restaurant on George Street. But only between the hours of 12:00-2:45 and 3:45-7:00pm M-F. (As Brian once said, it takes a lot of work to be thrifty.)
7.Attend the Taize service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 7pm every second Sunday of the month. Don’t expect to sing much as the choir outnumbers the attendees ten to one, but the spectacular arrangement of candles and the rich, clear voice of the choir is enough to make you want to visit the Taize community in France.
6.Go to the Percolator Café just south of the Octagon and order a rosehip and hibiscus herbal tea (make sure you pronounce the ‘h’ in herbal or they will know you are not-from-around-here) with a piece of chocolate cake. Write a letter as you listen to Johnny Cash and Nanci Griffith and some bossa nova. Enjoy the fabulous red walls.
5.Go to the Arc Café and order a vanilla green tea and a chocolate rum truffle. Write some postcards and strike up a conversation with a few university students.
4.Get a free haircut and follow it up with some $6 red henna (herbal hair color) from the Trade Aid (New Zealand’s version of Ten Thousand Villages).
3.Buy a big ol’ bar of Oxfam’s Fair Trade dark chocolate from the Trade Aid.
2.Walk up Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world. Everyone will know you are a tourist, but how many people can boast having climbed the steepest street in the world?
1.Attend the Tuesday evening Buddhist chanting meeting with Katharina and her landlords. You will be amazed at how quickly you are able to pronounce Sanskrit.