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Published: October 2nd 2005
Hello from Christchurch
Thought id drop you all a line let you know that the conference went well. Thus far - nothing has been quite what i had envisaged, however i am having a great time (and getting some work done on the thesis - amazing). We hired a car and drove from Christchurch - Dunedin, the scenery was quite flat (not the mountainous areas you picture when you think NZ). We saw a suprising number of cows - seems the industry is trying to make a shift from the sheep (possibly related to bad press). The coastline is beautiful and its amazing to look to the left with rolling green hills and sheep, then to the right with long narrow beaches, mild waves and every shade of blue and green there is.
There have been a couple of highlights - day one, with the 'when in rome' proverb in our conscious we booked a wine tour out to the Pegasus Bay area, we visited: Waipara Springs, Cantubury House and Pegasus Bay. While i have a preference for reds, i found plenty of dry whites that were very nice and we had a great time! We boarded the bus to find that we were the ONLY people on the tour that day - and after befriending the driver (tai-khan a Japanese-Kiwi who drove like we were in Tokyo) and one of the staff from the last winery (who we later found out is somewhat of a kiwi celebrity) we arranged to meet for dinner and drinks.... Turkish and an English Pub (one of our most 'global' experiences thus far).
After a long drive from Christchurch we arrived in Dunedin- a funny town, built by the Scots its now inhabited (or infested?) by students. The entire town which is tiny (about 1/3rd the size of Canberra) revolves around the university, and i would estimate has an average age of 19-20. Dunedins largest claim to fame is that it is home to the Steepest Street in the world - and they arent lying. We took the soft option and drove up what felt like an almost verticle incline. The footpath was littered with un-prepared tourists having coronarys and fit locals who had exercised themselves to the point of inarticulation.
We attended the conference to see particular sessions of interest, present our own papers and provide support to eachother. It was a great experience, and i feel more confident about my work now ive delivered it in the public realm. One of the professors from Otago was quite entusastic about my paper and has given me an interesting really recent case study that may be the first example of my concept in practice, kind of exciting. It was delivered quite well from the waist up, thankfully those in the audience couldn't see the waist down which was quivering like a leaf. After achieving that mental challenge, we decided to 'treat' ourselves to some sightseeing, unprepared for what lie ahead we headed to a beach called sandy bay.
Street signs soon began to indicate that this was going to be an expidition, we should have headed the warning at 'seacliff point road', but blisfully ignorant we contined along a dirt road (again to our sides the green hills - and sheep) until we arrived at a small carpark, there were about 5 cars there - but no people insight. From the car park was a nice looking walking path, we followed the path down the winding hill, through a couple of stock fences. The gravel turned into sand and the air smelt salty, we thought that the (allegedly rare) yellow eyed fairy penguins and sea lions were close. Around one sharp corner and voila - the largest sand dune i have ever seen in my life - a conservative estimate would be 20 meters high with an incline distrurbingly similar to Dunedins world famous street. I don't know if it was post-conference endorphins, group dynamics or sheer lunacy but we decided we'd come this far, we had to go all the way.
We began to step/slide down the dune, as our technique improved we picked up speed. We reached the bottom in relatively no time, and already exhausted.... to discover that the penguins were on the opposite end of the beach. We make our way along the beach, the sand was not white but the beach was pristine and the water freezing! We passed about a dozen sea-lions as we walked, despite warnings that they could attack, they did not appear to be at all interested in us, or the camera. To see the penguins we went to a viewing platform - there was of course another dune to climb. At last we made it, upon arrival we rushed to the window....... seems someone forgot to tell the penguins we were coming. Squinting we see something white on the rocks about 60 meters away - was it a bird? a penguin? i couldn't tell you - they were just too far away! We used the zoom on the camera for a closer look, but by this time i was convinced it was a mechanical penguin put there so that Dunedin could have another tourist attraction. We left the viewing tour - down the dune and across the beach. The sun was setting so we had to move - unsure how long it would take us to get back up the dune we had slid down so quickly before (if we actually made it up there alive at all). After serious consideration of how we could live with the lions we made a move - and after a few hours of what felt like 2 steps forward, 1 step back, we made it up the dune. We stood up on the cliff, feeling a sense of satisfaction that can only be achieved by coming close to death, the sun was setting and we looked back upon the beach and where we had walked - ultimatley we found the car, in the little carpark where we had left it, now the only car in the carpark - a Suzuki Swift has never looked so good.
Despite looking like something the lions had dragged in, covered in sand and sweat we felt incredibly satisfied with our efforts we indulged in a top-notch feed at a nice restaurant. Reflecting on the last few whirlwind days, we indulged in some wine from one of the vineyards we'd visited and chilled out. It was the best i have felt in months. Yesterday we did the long drive back from Dunedin to Christchurch which is the gateway to part 2 of the holiday with cam.
Love Z
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collette
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Great to hear from you :)
My goodness ZoMo you are certainly are having an adventerous life.. It's so good to hear how you are doing! Keep intouch!!! Love always Col xxx