Many weeks have passed since the last update, but in that time we have moved very little. The majority of our time in Dunedin has been spent working (Clare in the Otago Museum Cafe, Anna at Larnach Castle, and me at just about everywhere else!). Outside of work there have been other notable events, a few good nights out (on Speights Ale, the 'Southern Man'drink) and a farewell to another member of the party, James (not to mention a farewell to Brenda the Discobus, our car).
The first few days in Dunedin were a stressful time handing out CVs and, initially, finding little success. Eventually, I signed up to a temping agency (one of two that I became a part of) and soon was put to work in the store of an egg factory (wrapping pallets and filling containers with huge boxes of frozen egg products!!), shortly after I was a binman (!) which was good fun and I was even involved in setting up Dunedin Town Hall for the University of Otago graduation ceremonies. All of these jobs kept me amused for many weeks, whilst the girls continued their waitressing. Later, I joined another temping agency who had work in the local Countdown Supermarket, which was being refitted. Myself and another guy from the hostel spent three weeks of night shifts helping with the taking down, rebuilding, demolition and filling stock. During this period we saw little of the day and of those we lived with! I enjoyed the work but was pleased to switch back to days for my final week and see Clare and Anna once more.
Although work has dominated our time in Dunedin there have been other noteworthy events. Whilst busking fairly early on in our stay (something which has earned me much money in Dunedin) I was asked to play/busk at a local Tatoo Festival which sounded good. When I turned up to the event it was a little less 'legit' than I had expected....various parts had been closed down by the local council, and the overall set up was not as expected. In my second session I ended up playing alongside a bassist and drummer amongst several half naked ladies covered in body paint (which was part of a competition apparently)...(and, just to clarify it was the ladies who were covered in paint, not me)...this was not what I had expected but is likely the most rock and roll moment of my tour of NZ (and of my musical career!)...I know for one that Dad in particular enjoyed this story!
We've also had several good nights out, despite the cold, including Anna's birthday celebrations, James' farewell drinks and a few others for no real reason. Our hostel is situated about two mins from the Speights Brewery and Alehouse, perfect for a few beers in the evening.
I've finally seen the All Blacks in action live at the Carisbrook here in Dunedin. It was a very tight game, which the Springboks eventually won by two points in the dying minutes. One of the ultimate NZ experiences has to be witnessing the power of the prematch Haka. Carisbrook was a great place to see it, a smallish ground packed out at 29,500 capacity crowd celebrating 100 years of test rugby and going crazy.
The other thing I have seen is my first ever penguin, in the freezing cold dusk at Sandfly Bay....I have never seen any animal look more confused as it tries to work our whether to run up the beach or dive back into the sea until its located its nest - awesome!
I'm sure that I will have missed a few things, and I'll skip over the fact that unfortunately Brenda (our car) is no more, but, in summation, Dunedin has been a good place to stop and work...we've experienced a little of the Southern way of life and at times battled with the cold! The work has been hard but the beer has been good, and everyone is now veryt much looking forward to the arrival of Katie, Steve and Sarah for the next leg of the voyage. I write on the eve of our departure from Dunedin and we'll bid it, and our new friends, farewell for the time being but we'll return shortly to enjoy it once more.
