Dunedin, the second-largest city on the south island (but only about the same size as Exeter), was pretty scruffy, and it felt more like Britain than New Zealand. In places like Wellington and Wanaka it wasn’t uncommon to see people wandering around barefoot; but you wouldn’t do that here because before long you would tread on broken glass. I was uncomfortable about having to leave Greg parked in front of a car with a smashed window. There was a condom packet on the pavement, and as I took out my bags I was watched by a young man sitting on his garage roof playing a guitar and a middle-aged woman sitting on a dilapidated sofa in her front garden. The hostel had character. It was a century-old former hospital, with heavy wooden doors and creaky sunken stairs. But even in the hostel, there were posters warning you that there were thieves around.
I was in the hostel lounge when Bambi (Kowoon, from the hostel in Queenstown) walked in, which was a nice surprise. We had breakfast together. I’ve bumped into people I first met elsewhere in the country several times now.
I paid a visit to Baldwin Street, the world’s steepest residential street according to the Guinness Book of Records. It’s 350m long and at its steepest, the slope is 1 : 2.86, or 35 percent. My heart sank when I saw it because it looked even steeper than I’d imagined, but I’d told myself I was going to walk it, so I did. I was overtaken by a taxi full of middle-aged women who got out at the top and watched me climb the last part. “Your hamstrings must be burning,” one of them said to me, as I made a beeline for the water fountain. I told them getting a taxi was cheating. The views were great but you wouldn’t find me living in a street like that.
The Botanic Gardens were nice, but not nice enough to make me dig out my camera. Similarly, there were lots of old buildings such as the university and law courts, but the only times I stopped for photos were at the railway station, which was a pretty unusual building, and the cathedral which was next to the municipal chamber.
Dunedin was in the middle of a fringe festival so I went to a stand-up comedy night which was quite good. There were six or seven acts during the two-hour show. The funniest weren’t Kiwis, but an American guy and a Chinese girl.
My overall opinion about Dunedin changed when I saw the beach at St Clair, a 10-minute drive away. It was fantastic. I watched a couple of surfers and was gutted I didn’t have time to get in the water myself. But I was on my way to the Otago Peninsula, home to the yellow-eyed penguins and NZ sea lions which have put this area on the map.
I took the Highcliff road to Sandfly Bay, and the views were magnificent. But I only saw one penguin in the water and one waddling up the beach some distance away. However, there were loads of sea lions. Most of them were swimming in the water, which was so clear, they could be watched both above and below the surface. Two were at the top of the beach, not far away from me, and the larger one – which was massive – chased the smaller one into the sea. Some were lazing around on the rocks, and it was only when they moved that I realised they were there, as they were well camouflaged.
On my way back into the city, I picked up a hitchhiker for the first time, even though I have driven past dozens over the last few weeks. I thought it would be pretty mean to leave the young German girl on the peninsula as it was starting to get dark, and there wasn’t much other traffic around.