Today’s the summer solstice which gives us our longest day and shortest night.

In Dunedin the sun will be here for a second longer than it was yesterday and 4 seconds longer than it will be up tomorrow.

In Auckland the sun would have risen at 5.58 and it will set at 8.40. 

In Invercargill it rose at 5.50 and will set at 9.40. (If everyone lived down there we wouldn’t need daylight saving).

If memories from school geography serve me correctly the earth heats and cools faster than the sea. That explains why it’s usually warmer after the longest day and why it’s hotter in Central Otago than on the coast.

The sun’s shining as I type – for the third day in a row – but it’s only 10 degrees so there’s a lot of warming to do before we have summer weather.

December 16-19th, Kirk of Dunedin Community Church Christmas Organ Concert: Featuring Disney’s Organist Rob Richards and Pianist Alex Zsolt. Bake and craft sales available before the concert and during intermission. Tickets $10 Adult and $5 Student. Call 727-733-5475. 2686 Bayshore Blvd. (Alt 19).

December 16th, Make-it Take-it Holiday Crafts: Clearwater Main Library, 3:00 p.m. Create decorations or gifts at Make-it Take-it Holiday Crafts. While supplies last.

December 17th, AS.I.BE Magazine Holiday Party and Fashion Photo Shoot: 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. RAWBar Sushi, 777 N Ashley Dr., Tampa. Benefits Metropolitan Ministries.

December 17-23, “Glice Skating”: Bring your socks, rent skates and take a spin on the newly enlarged “glice” skating ring in downtown St. Pete’s North Straub Park. Skating is $5 for 30 minutes and is available Dec. 10-13, 17-23. More information: 727-893-7441

December 18th – 20th, Nutcracker 2009: Dec 18th and 19th at 7:30 p.m., December 20th at 2:00 p.m. $15.00 for adults, $12.00 for children, $25.00 front row. Guilfoil Performing Arts Center, 6152 126th Ave. N in Largo. Call (727)-216-6989 or visit www.guilfoilacademyofdance.com for more information .

December 18th – 20th, Holiday Inc.: At the historic Friday Morning Musicale in South Tampa’s Hyde Park. With lots of surprises, humor, and a juke box of musical numbers ranging from Swing to Broadway, Rock and Roll and Disco, this show will appeal to an audience of all age groups and backgrounds leaving them feeling inspired and ready to celebrate the season!

December 19th, Pangea Christmas Bazaar: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Local vendors will sell jewelry, clothes, hand bags, chocolate, plants, etc. at Pangea Café in Downtown Clearwater.

December 19th, Merry Chriskwanzanukah: Clearwater Main Library, 2:00 p.m. Shana Banana presents Merry Chriskwanzanukah!, a musical show that highlights both the similarities and unique traditions of Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa.

December 19th, Florida Boychoir Christmas Concert: Join the Choirboys of the Florida Boychoir for a special concert of Christmas music under the director of Choirmaster and Founder, Brian Collar. Grace Lutheran Church, Tampa. 7:00 p.m. Call Brian Collar at 1-877-671-SING(7464) for more info.

December 19th, Tour de Trail Christmas Ride: The ride will be Saturday, Dec. 19th. Meeting place will be Skips on Dunedin Main St at Noon. www.thetdt.org for more information.

December 19th and 20th, The Nutcracker: Presented by the Moscow Classical Ballet with the Florida Orchestra. Ruth Eckerd Hall, 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. www.rutheckerdhall.com .

December 21st, Holiday Cards: North Greenwood Library, 2:30 p.m. Bring the whole family to make Holiday Cards. Materials will be provided. For all ages.

December 23rd, A Christmas Carol: Ruth Eckerd Hall 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. www.rutheckerdhall.com

Don’t forget to visit http://pjtampabay.com/ to stay updated on all the latest!

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Photo © 2009 Scott Savage.

Ahh, good ol’ South Dunedin! Today with one of these spots that will kill a couple of pedestrians by collapsing some day soon. And one of the spots that have mayor Peter Chin written all over them. Shrieking, with The Joker-like voice, “Fuck it! Fuck it ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-hard!!”

Declaring smoke-free footpaths around Dunedin Hospital is a ridiculous idea which would not solve the issues around smoking near hospital entrances, Richard Thomson says. Read more here

Act 1: The Ring

Welcome to New Zealand’s north island. We were on a quest.

My friend Kenny is leaving for Army basic training first week of January. He wanted a last hurrah but doesn’t like snow very much, so he wanted to go somewhere it was summer.

It just so happened our friend recently became unmarried due to his wife cheating on him, so we wanted to do him a favor and chuck his ex’s engagement ring into Mt. Doom.

Two birds with one stone, you know? New Zealand it was.

There is a dayhike called the Alpine Crossing that runs between two of Tongariro NP’s three volcanos.

We tried to bring some California sunshine in with us but it got seized at customs. Unfortunately the hiker’s shuttle wasn’t running hikes into the park due to poor visibility, heavy rains and 50 kmph winds. However fast that is. 33.33 miles per hour? In other words, the hike was a no-go.

As you can see there is a lot of water in Tongariro, much of it coming from the sky. We did a nice little dayhike to some waterfall, and there was water everywhere, like inside our waterproof rain jackets.

Act 2: Land Bridge

Welcome to highway 1, the road from Wellington to Taupo.

Of all the boring drives in my lifetime, this may have taken the cake. And believe me, I have driven some boring roads.

I thought about committing crime as I rolled into this little town, just for some excitement. Perhaps robbing a convenience store, but there was none to be robbed.

We tried escaping the rain by driving into this floating cave, which crossed the strait lead us south to this town called Picton on the South Island.

Act 3: Eastern Seaboard

From Picton we rolled down the east coast of New Zealand’s south island in our rental Corolla, stopping at a winery along the way.

We stopped and looked for food, those seals looking pretty tempting. But with the sheep overpopulation problem, we opted for lamb instead.

I think the rain was chasing us south because it was pretty cold and wet most of the way. The seals didn’t seem to mind the wet. Probably because they’re seals.

We ran into what was New Zealand’s last distillery for some whisky tasting and to support the local economy.

Driving some of these highways was kind of like driving in the midwest, but replacing corn with sheep.

We got to the Speight’s brewery in Dunedin by the afternoon. Thankfully the whiskey worn off just in time for the beer tasting.

We then were invited over to a friend’s place for dinner (and beer). I actually ripped off much of my lighting technique from this man. You can see his work here. It was quite the honor.

Act 4: Photosynthesis

We pushed south into Wanaka, outrunning the rain. Up until this point the most blue I’d seen previously was Windows XP’s default wallpaper, so this was a welcome change.

A mountain biker on a night ride up a nearby hill. Yes, I said night; the sun doesn’t set until 9:15pm.

Obligatory lame flower close-up. I’m so nature photographer.

We walked back down the hill to troll the town for beer and Turkish food.

We went kayaking the entire next day. My camera stayed at the hostel, due to my safety record with cameras, I kept it as far from the river as possible.

We kind of got along with the river guides, both of which happened to be climbers as well. So after an entire day of kayaking, we climbed.

I did my first lead.

It was a tiring day and I think I was sore for the next two, but we had use what sunshine we had to maximize our outdoorsiness.

Act 5: Ice Ice, Baby

The next morning we rolled over the pass to the west coast.

Unfortunately the cloud cover caught up with us. No more epic landscape light, as my strobes aren’t big enough to light a mountain range.

We made it up to Fox Glacier.

Unfortunately we weren’t equipped for ice travel so we only walked up to the thing and walked back.

The next morning on our way out of Arthurs Pass, we saw these guys on the road who needed a lift down the hill. It was the same direction as we were headed, so what the heck.

Due to a mistake booking my flights, I ended up alone in Christchurch for a day in a half. The first half of my day alone I ended up catching up with some reading, post processing photos and finishing MW2 on veteran.

I started my day in the evening and walked around Christchurch for a few hours. Pretty underwhelmed, I returned to the hostel and sat in the common area to do some more reading, whereupon I was invited to a game of Jenga by a few Germans. Pictionary with some Canadians followed, then jawjacked with a gun-loving Montanan went well into the early morning.

I used to knock traveling around the world just to mingle with other tourists, but darn if it isn’t fun.

And Deane Galbraith over at the Dunedin School is starting to sound remarkably like another blogger who used to be in the blogosphere …

I have a very exciting summer job…yus!

Vigil Boat, Dunedin 12 Dec. 2009

This just in from Nick Holmes, on behalf of 350 Dunedin, reporting on the Sat. 12 Dec. 2009 vigil:

“Last night Dunedin was one of over 3000 global communities holding candlelit vigils – collectively standing alongside the small island and developing nations for an ambitious, fair, and binding agreement in Copenhagen. Concurrently, the streets of Denmark saw over 50,000 people collect for the largest climate rally in history”.

“And the icing on the mid-conference cake – 2 Dunedin Vigil photos are in the 350.org front page slideshow, our Dunedin vigil is in the top 51 global vigil photos, and our Dunedin vigil boat is in the TOP 10 global vigil photos!”

I’m passing this around, in case any greenies are so inclined & qualified.

Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies (Confirmation Path)
National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies

Applicants should possess a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies or a cognate discipline, and have an established or emerging track record of systematic research and publication. They should also have teaching experience at the tertiary level. Given that Peace and Conflict Studies is a new programme, candidates should be able to demonstrate skills in academic curriculum development as well.

The successful candidate:

* Will have a research background in peace and conflict studies with a significant number of peer reviewed publications. Some preference will be given to those with advanced knowledge in conflict analysis and resolution.

* Will contribute to the research environment by developing/contributing to local and international research groups, by attracting postgraduate students, and by competing successfully for research funding.

* Will be expected to teach two postgraduate courses per year in the area of Peace and Conflict Studies and to supervise 400-level Honours, Masters and PhD students.

* Will contribute to the administration and development of the Centre in particular, and the Division of Humanities and the University of Otago in general.

The position is available from 1 June 2010 and it is hoped that the successful applicant can commence duties as soon as possible around that time.

Specific enquiries may be directed to Professor Kevin P Clements, Director, National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies,
Tel 03 479 4546, Fax 03 479 8084,
Email kevin.clements@otago.ac.nz

Applications quoting reference number A09/163 close on Friday 22 January 2010.

Job Description: You can download the Lecturer in Peace and Conflict
Studies (Confirmation Path) job description (12 KB in PDF format) at
vacancy/otago006243.pdf

Application Forms: Download the Application Form in PDF format at
vacancy/otago002583.pdf

or MS Word format at
vacancy/otago002584.doc

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): Download the EEO Form in PDF
format at
vacancy/otago002585.pdf

or Rich Text Format (RTF) at
vacancy/otago002582.rtf

Prior to applying for any academic staff vacancy, applicants should also read:

* Application Information for Academic Staff at
application_academic.html

and
* Information for Applicants for Academic Posts and Conditions of Appointment at
ConditionsofAppointment

left-right: Julia Campbell (FTANZ), Mayor Peter Chin, and Professor George Benwell

Dunedin became New Zealand’s first Fair Trade city on 8 December. Julia Campbell, from the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand, presented the official certificate to Mayor, Peter Chin, in the atrium of the School of Business at Otago University. Professor George Benwell, Dean of School of Business and Pro Vice Chancellor, Division of Commerce, was congratulated, as the School has also earned Fair Trade status. The Channel 9 report can be seen here.

Design Studies students enrolled in DESI 222 (Communication Design Project)  worked towards this goal for the past two years. A PDF file with examples of student projects from 2008 can be downloaded from here. This year, students designed the branding and marketing strategy for the Fair Trade Dunedin Steering Group. Examples of some of this work can be found in this wiki. The Department of Design Studies became a Fair Trade Workplace in 2009. A post with links to Fair Trade related websites can be found here. For more information about what Design Studies students have done to support Fair Trade, see the Communication Design Project course blog.

The seminar meets at the Bog Irish Pub in Dunedin, 7-8 February 2010. Come a day early and celebrate Waitangi Day! We have a full program (out soon), but for now some accommodation and transport details, with thanks to James Harding:

Tourism websites

Tourism New Zealand: http://www.newzealand.com

New Zealand Tourism: http://www.nz-tourism.com

New Zealand Tourism Guide: http://www.tourism.net.nz

Dunedin: http://www.dunedinnz.com

You can find a street map of Dunedin here: http://www.dunedin.nz.com/maps/aspx

General accommodation websites

BBH World traveller accommodation NZ: http://www.bbh.co.nz

YHA New Zealand: http://www.yha.co.nz

University of Otago Te Whare Wänanga o Ötäkou

Home page: http://www.otago.ac.nz

Department of Theology & Religion Te Tari Mätauranga Whakapono: http://www.otago.ac.nz/theology and http://www.otago.ac.nz/religion

Backpackers in Dunedin (all within walking distance of the university, the city centre, and The Bog)

Central Backpackers Dunedin: http://www.centralbackpackers.co.nz (from NZ$22)

Manor House Backpackers: http://www.manorhousebackpackers.co.nz (from NZ$22)

Next Stop Backpackers: http://www.nextstop.co.nz (from NZ$23)

On Top Backpackers: http://www.ontopbackpackers.co.nz (from NZ$25)

Penny’s Backpackers: http://www.pennys.co.nz (from NZ$21)

YHA Dunedin: http://www.yha.co.nz/Hostels/South+Island+Hostels/Dunedin/ (from NZ$24)

Motels in Dunedin (all within walking distance of the university, the city centre, and The Bog)

Alcala Motor Lodge: http://www.alcalamotorlodge.co.nz (from NZ$95)

Alexis Motor Lodge: http://www.alexis.co.nz (from NZ$120)

Cable Court Motel: http://www.cablecourtmotel.co.nz (from NZ$115)

Dunedin Palms Motel: http://www.dunedinpalmsmotel.co.nz (from NZ$150)

Sahara Guesthouse & Motel: http://www.dunedin-accommodation.co.nz (from NZ$40)

From the airport

Dunedin International Airport (http://www.dnairport.co.nz) is at Momona on the Taieri Plain, about 30 minutes drive from central Dunedin. Airport shuttles meet every flight and cost from NZ$25 one-way depending on the number of people in the shuttle. There are some direct flights from Oz (ex Brisbane with Pacific Blue) but most flights require you to change planes in Auckland and/or Christchurch. Within NZ there are direct flights from Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, all of which have direct flights to major centres across the Tasman.

Xmas Lights on Boats

The Dunedin Boat Parade was scheduled for last night, December 5th at 6pm but due to the weather, the parade got cancelled. To pass the time, I took a few pics of the boats at the marina. According to the city’s official page it looks like the event will now happen on December 12th. I’ll most likely go down then. I’ll play it by ear, V.  photo: vvs

I’ve just finished reading an excellent story by Chris Barton in the NZ Herald, which is a good primer for the Copenhagen conference that John Key is going to? The cricket on TV is on in the background and apparently Key is in Wellington watching New Zealand vs Pakistan, so he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get to the airport.

He quotes Phil Scadden, a geo-scientist from Dunedin, as saying that by 2025 we could cover all our energy needs using wind, hydro, geothermal and other relatively green sources if we were prepared to spend a great deal of money.

I find it hard to believe that NZ will spend the money, especially if we are insistent on Kyoto and other deals which would require us to pay other countries who have less carbon emissions than us. For my money I think that we should invest the same amount of money on cleaning up our own act.

I ask myself if we can afford to be prissy about seeing lots of wind turbines on hilltops. Personally I think they look really good. I was in the Netherlands earlier this year and the site of hundreds of wind turbines was quite inspiring. I don’t have a problem with having them far enough away so they don’t cause noise polution. We have plenty of great spots in the country that are almost always windy, such as Ohakea, which I believe from memory means place where four winds meet. It certainly never disappointed when I used to go down to the Ohakea Air Base to race land yachts, a very green speed sport:)

Something that annoys me when we talk about clean and green in this country is the lack of emission controls for diesel vehicles. If I was given a dollar for each diesel soot sprewing truck, with black soot backs delivering frozen meat, I would be able to retire today.

I’d also like to know why NZ is following other countries, with Feed-in Tarriffs, which I have previously blogged about. The concept was raised a long time ago by the Green Party, where there would be subsidies and incentives for people to put solar panels on their rooves and allowed them to sell surplus power into the grid.

Anyway, this whole situation disturbs me. Instead of fixing our problem at home, we want to pay other countries who are more fortunate than us, in having more trees etc. NZ has the ability to be self sustainable if we put our brilliant scientists and inventers on the job. We could be isolated from a lot of the problems of climate change in other parts of the world. Once we have it licked, then we can give them access to our know how. That might make a great new export for us.

For now, I’ve been for a 9 1/2 km bush walk/jog, finished my blog and am going to go and by an electric lawn mower. It is plastic, doesn’t need oil or petrol, won’t rust and will therefore last much longer.

Chuck has a colleague at the university from Belarus. Andrej is an enthusiastic folk musician, which is why I contacted him to find out about local cultural events in Auckland. I missed the dance party he told me about a few months ago, so I was determined to attend this one-day festival.

Andrej

That’s how I ended up at the 34th Auckland Highland Games & Gathering on Saturday. You see, Andrej is a Scottish piper. Word is, he and his brother piped their sister down the aisle at her wedding back home in Belarus. They disrupted the other marriages happening that day at the registry office, as brides skipped out to get their photos taken with the men in plaid skirts. We often hear the skirling of Highland pipes coming from the nearby Auckland Domain and wonder if it’s him practicing.

As a former British colony, New Zealand has plenty of claims to Scottishness. The village of Waipu in Northland was settled by 1000 Gaelic-speaking Highlanders fleeing the Highland Clearances, by way of Nova Scotia. At the other end of the country lies the Edinburgh of the South, Dunedin, named in Scottish Gaelic after that northern capitol. The founders sought to emulate the layout of downtown Edinburgh, so you’ll find Hanover Street, Moray Place,  and Dundas Street here, too. Reportedly, the Southlanders from places like Dunedin and Invercargill bear remnants of the Scottish rolled ‘r’ in their speech, although I haven’t heard evidence of this yet.

One of New Zealand’s most famous folk heroes is Scotsman James ‘Jock’ McKenzie. This highland shepherd is famed for driving 1,000 stolen sheep alone across the wilds of the South Island in 1855. McKenzie’s Scottish collie is as famous as he is, whose skills at mustering sheep are legendary. What is known is that the man and his dog Friday (really, that’s his name!)  led the entire flock over mountain passes undiscovered by non-Māori settlers. When apprehended, McKenzie was able to escape, fleeing 100 miles south to Lyttelton before he was caught. Alas, man’s best friend turned informer, cheerfully identifying his master when brought into court. Jock’s explorations were acknowledged belatedly, giving his name to the region of South Canterbury he roved – Mackenzie Country.

On a side note, I heard just this evening from my Māori teacher’s husband that there’s been much intermarriage between Scots and Māori. He reckons that most of the common Scottish family names are well-represented among the local tangata whēnua (“people of the land”).

I’ve now attended Highland games in the USA, New Zealand and Scotland. One thing that immediately became apparent at this one was that the New Zealand version leans more towards the US style than the Scottish. The Auckland Highland Games had the character of a diaspora population’s focus on culture and identity, with sporting events on equal footing with bagpipe competitions and clan tents.

In Scotland, the Highland games revolve around athletic competitions.  Everything else is secondary, although it’s admittedly pretty hard to sideline a bagpipe band that much. At the games I attended in Glenrothes, Fife, the audience sat around the margins of a track field, watching everything from the traditional caber toss to bicycle races. The Highland dance and bagpipe competitions were squirreled away elsewhere in the area and took some work to locate. And I don’t remember any clan tents encouraging fairgoers to find out where their ancestors came from. Because people in Scotland already know that they’re Scottish. And they know – which apparently lots of Americans and New Zealanders don’t – that not all Scots are Highlanders or belong to a clan.

At this Games, there wasn’t much chance you’d forget where you were, as the grounds resounded with the constant skirling of the Phìob Mhòr, the big Highland pipes. I can’t count how many times I heard Scotland the Brave. Auckland mayor John Banks missed his cue to officially open the games but stood to review a record 10 pipe bands marching in tight formation. I saw Andrej’s Otahuhu & Districts Pipe Band in the lineup, but missed their call in the marching band competition.

Adorably-dressed girls competed in the Highland Fling and Sword Dance, as they do at every Highland games in the world, watched by intent judges and doting mothers. I chatted with some friendly Scottish country dancers who attempted to recruit me and pointed out that the scene in Auckland is less stodgy than what I found in Edinburgh. Clearly, the community is welcoming, as they were able to stage a demonstration with over 72 people!

A Sisyphean Task

The NZ ‘s Strongest Man competition saw some hefty guys carrying two 100kg pipes across field and moving five rocks weighing from 95-155 kgs onto large barrels. I was sad to miss the caber toss, as it isn’t often you get to see men attempting to flip a phone pole end over end. I also missed the parade of the West Highland terriers, but you could see the little white pooches all over the place.

Eventgoers joined in Scottish country dancing and tossing the sheaf (not tossing the sheep, as a few people misheard). I swear the MC had exactly the same accent as Sean Connery,* which added extra flavor to the announcements asking more ladies to sign up for the haggis hurling contest!

Taste o' the Haggis?

It wouldn’t be fully Scottish without a recitation of Robbie Burns’ Ode to the Haggis. And we got to taste the infamous delicacy, too! I heard some gasping when the Polish guy next to me in the tasting line referred to it as Irish food. We got that cleared up before he got into too much trouble, but I refused to tell him what was in this honored Scottish food until he tried it. Man, that was some good haggis, even without neeps and tatties on the side. It made me miss a good plate of it at The Last Drop in the Grassmarket in Edinburgh. The Polish fellow and his French friends liked it, too. Even after I told them it was meat, onions, and oatmeal cooked inside a sheep’s stomach.

Kilted kiwi

Part of the fun of attending the games was looking for particularly Kiwi touches. Of course, you could get a flat white at the coffee tent and the NZ flag flew next to the Cross of St. Andrew. And the New Zealand’s Strongest Man competition was a real crowd pleaser. But it was enjoyable trying to spot more subtle NZ flair. Like the tent selling jandals (Kiwi for “flip-flops”) and beach towels designed to look like kilts. Or the camaraderie between the kilt-clad Master of Ceremonies and a muscle-bound Polynesian, sharing a cigarette break. A personal favorite was the mascot of the Scottish country dancers from Waitakere – a kiwi bird dressed in full tartan regalia.

It was time to go when the weather got a little too “Scottish,” as James Bond’s voice double called it. Even the pipe bands garbed in their clever raingear weren’t enough to keep me there. No problem, as Amazing Grace and Flower of Scotland will be ringing in my ears for days.

More photos at: Auckland Highland Games by jocuteca.

Short video clip at: Auckland Highland Games 2009 on YouTube.

—-

* I was tempted to ask him whether he was also from Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, a place I strongly associate with the malty scent of the now-defunct McEwan’s brewery.

I’ve been doing a lot of posters recently and thought it might be time to start gathering things in one place.  The burning out of a hard drive full of drawings and that has also contributed to this decision.

This Flickr set is comprised of several posters for The Valerie Coyne Quintet and The Jenna Harris Quartet at Bewley’s Café Theatre, Grafton St., Mark Conway Whelan’s and a press release and promotional Cut Out and Keep Dr. Glam (a “wayward aunty who wears too much makeup and doesn’t care, a space commander, a twisted, weird cousin who shuns daylight, a futuristic cabaretist, a would-be vampire and a cartoon dome-head”) to celebrate the launch of his book Glory Days: From Gumboots to Platforms and promote a gig at Refuel.

There is meant to be a widget linking to most recently uploaded on Flickr to the right but that’s something I haven’t fully gotten to grips with yet.  In the interim, use the link below to view the set.

landrobot’s Flickr set posters and that

For today’s adventure, Nacho Patrol headed south. And after heading south, we boarded another plane and headed even more south, and then after that, we drove even farther. While we’re holding out hopes for nachos in Antarctica, this may be as geographically far as one can go to find our favorite dish. For those of you who skipped your New Zealand geography class, the beautifully hilly town of Dunedin can be found here. They’ve got castles and albatross and penguins and the steepest hill in the world and, apparently, a decent plate of nachos…Decent by South Pacific/Commonwealth of Britain standards at least.

• Appearance: (7.5) for a place that bills itself as a pizza joint (a word to the wise, avoid New Zealand pizza), Dunedin’s Metro Cafe and Bar–located conveniently in the Octagon–sports quite a tasty looking plate of nachos. With a pile of toppings in the middle surrounded by a sea of round chips, these weren’t what we’re used to, but pleasant nonetheless.
• Distribution: (6.5) Just when we think we’ve seen every method of distribution out there, Metro gave us something a little different–a ring of crispy chips filled with a creamy center of chili, sour cream, and salsa. Acting much more like a dip than a unified arrangement, it worked for us, though there wasn’t nearly enough cheese.
• Quality: (6) Here’s what interesting/slightly horrifying about New Zealand nachos–instead of using straight corn chips, they use nacho flavored Doritos. Weird, we know. That in itself isn’t too terrible, but after awhile they become overwhelmingly salty, especially when combined with the subtly sweet chili. It wasn’t bad, but it had us grasping blindly for the water glass. FYI, if you’re a dirty, tree-hugging herbivore, they have a vegetarian nacho.
• Price: (5.5) These nachos came in at about NZD $19 (USD $13.60). Big, filling, and absolutely too much for two people. But still pretty pricey if you want to get drinks and a pizza as well.
• Overall: 25.5/40

Oh Dunedin, in comparison to some of our other New Zealand/England nacho reviews, you’ve done us proud, even if you are about a ten minute walk from the antarctic.

After an eventful day yesterday we slept like babies. Being sheltered from the wind by yucca bushes also helped. The peninsula and bay are covered in very low clouds and drizzle is ever-present. We heat up the van and drive a bit back towards Dunedin to have a quick breakfast at a rest stop overlooking the bay.

Then we start driving towards Alexandra and Queenstown. Katka is behind the wheel while I type some emails and try not to give in to motion sickness. There is a steady cloud cover as we pass the green hills with grazing cows and sheep (apparently there is 35 million sheep in NZ, down from 75 million in the 1970’s) Along the way we pass many fruit orchards and in one of them we purchase awesome sweet cherries. It comes as a shock to us that the stands are self-served with a small box for payment. This would not work in Slovakia. We pay NZD 7.50 for the bag of cherries and move on. Passing fields with huge flat rocks we make it to Alexandra. After refueling we continue along Lake Dundtan to Cromwell and then follow SH6 to Queenstown. We stop over at Roaring Meg to cook a lunch.

Then we proceed further in direction of Queenstown. Along the way we pass many wineries and vineyards. It feels weird to see snow covered peaks behind the vineyards.

We stop by the Kawarau Suspension Bridge, where bungee jumping was born and watch a few nut cases jump. My fear of such jump is just reassured.

We finally make it to Queenstown. For all the stories I have heard it’s just another skiing village luring people to spend hefty amounts of money on all kinds of adrenaline rush shots. We walk around and I feel overwhelmed by all the commerce and push to do something crazy. I miss the peaceful calm and quiet of Oamaru.We get some groceries and then head out in direction of Te Anau. Just as we leave QT we drive along the Remarkables, a massive rock range shooting straight from the plain up to 1500m. It’s quite a sight.

The distance to Te Anau is almost 170km and to Milford Sound 291km. At first, I’m a bit taken by surprise by it but as we pass the beautiful but winding road hugging Lake Wakatipu the plains let me “fly” at 120km/h at times. There are no more vineyards here but we see a lot of cows, sheep and even alpacas and deer. Seeing deer being farm like cattle surprises us, makes us feel sad and I get a bit philosophical. While I see the future of selfish manking darker unless we get our act together, stop multipling like locusts, abusing and depleting everything around us, Katka sees some hope that we might invent new ways how to feed the billions. Either way, the more we see the more I’m convinced we are all Earth citizens and we must act responsibly mo matter where we live. It’s the same small but beautiful planet!

It is amazing to observe what New Zealand has to offer. Just today for example we drove from ocean side through rolling hills with fruit orchards, then past some gorges and lakes, vineyard covered slopes, high rocky and snow covered peaks, green pastures with cattle, hills covered in dry long grass or in bushes with millions of yellow flowers on them. All that in less than 12 hrs! Wow!

The birds along the road perform some top notch aviatic skills which at times are right out of the suicide manual. Judging from the road kills volume only very few fail to avoid the cars. Arriving at Te Anau we refuel since there are no gasoline stations past this town and it’s 248km round trip to Milford Sound. I must give it to the New Zealanders that they are doing their utmost to inform, educate people about how to behave in this fragile Eco system. We drive to the info center and manage to book a tour of Doubtful Sound for tomorrow and Milford Sound late afternoon cruise for the day after. It comes at hefty NZD660,- but for us this is the way to spend money. I must note that the prices if tours and things to do here in NZ are really high. We expected more than Asia but this is at the European level. Btw “europan” it is funny to see again, just like in the US, that things marketed as special have the adjective “european” over here. Funny.

Once we have booked the tours we swing by a camper van park where we sneak an illigal shower and then drive a bit out of town in direction of Manapouri. Since this drive is marked as scenic we park illigally next to Lake Te Anau and witness georgeous “nose-bleed” sunset. I prefer driving anything marked scenic during the day to get better light. Even though, the light today (except for the sunset) sucked! Plain overcast mess. I really hope and pray that tomorrow and the day after we’ll get some blue sky in order to capture the beauty in nice light. The drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound should take around 2 1/2 hrs and ought to be stunning so good light will be essential.

Though today was mainly driving, it was still an awesome day. I got to do what I love (to travel and see new places) with the one I love by my side!