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Published: February 14th 2007
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As I left Queenstown heading for Dunedin I came across this London red bus in front of me. I later discovered it was heading for what I would describe as one adventure I was not likely to go for, the Kawaru Bungy Centre. This was the original site that A.J.Hacker started this mad sport I 'had to investigate ,see if I had the nerve with out having to resort to brown trousers .well I watched the chap go for it ,you are at 43metres above the river and it’s over in 2 seconds ,well I was tempted but then it cost $150 .I didn’t have the very fat wallet for 2 seconds and as another disincentive was the 300 steps climb to get back to the top .sometimes I think yes you should have gone for it but only briefly .a statically fact is that 95% of the people that do this mad thing are under 35yrs .however you do have that 5%, they had a lady of 100 who went for broke ,amazing, obviously gone back to her childhood (La Broma) After this I pushed on to Dunedin
So far to date I have had the most
fantastic weather brilliant blue skies ,will it hold?
Dunedin
The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the Scottish capital
Captain James Cook stood off what is now the coast of Dunedin between February 25 and March 5 1770 and named Cape Saunders on the Otago Peninsula and Saddle Hill. He charted the area and reported penguins and seals in the vicinity which led sealers to visit, their first recorded landings being late in the first decade of the 19th century. A feud between sealers and Māori, sparked by an incident on a ship in Otago Harbour in 1810, continued until 1823. With peace re-established Otago Harbour went from being a secret sealers' haven to an international whaling port. Also gold was found, the Presbyterian Scots who made up the bulk of the small settlement were highly suspicious of anything that smacked of easy money. Back in 1851, the Witness had bluntly warned its readers, "Flour is more necessary than gold and may be more profitable".
Slow Start
So, with this initial scepticism, no more than 150 men were at work on the diggings in the first month. But spectacular returns had their effect
and by August 'gold fever' had taken hold. News spread, diggers began to pour over from Australia, and the village of Dunedin suddenly found itself in the forefront of an international goldrush. On one single day, 65 vessels were counted at anchor in the Otago Harbour. People awoke to see empty hillsides suddenly covered with white tents.
The Tuapeka wilderness was soon supporting 11,500 diggers. Dunedin, as port of entry, doubled to 5,850 in six months, trebled again within three years, and by 1870 was unchallenged as New Zealand's largest and richest city. In one day the Shotover River produced 57KG’s of gold
Today although gold is still mined with heavy industry the major industry for Dunedin is education The University of Otago ((The Province) has 1000’s of students from around the world bearing this in mind I checked out the info centre and found that what really interested me was the Otago Museum ,the Tairi gorge Railway and the Hall of Fame sports Museum.
First stop was the Otago Museum a very impressive building .it had a tremendous amount of artefacts regarding the Maori people including a War canoe ,what a piece of workmanship with all the ornate carving,
just to see that was worth the visit. Great deal of stuff about how the Maori got there from Polynesia and the similarities and how long ago.I then went to the railway station ,probably the most photographed building in Dunedin a very imposing piece of architecture
From there I booked a trip on the Railway trip a 4 hour excursion through to Pukerangi going through steep valleys and over viaducts up to 50metres above the river ,yet again spectacular views .one has to marvel again at the engineering involved driven by the need to have a route through the mountains for industry(mining)
On my return it was too late to visit the “Hall Of Fame” decided to go there tomorrow before heading off for Christchurch.
Awoke the following morning to be greeted with piddling rain cats and dogs, dull and overcast ,the brilliant weather had broken .
Before I ventured to the Hall of Fame I had to go and see and drive according to Guinness Book of Records
“The Steepest Street In The World”- Baldwin Street .
I think we have as steep a street in Tenerife but they have registered it and make capital from it good luck
to them.
From there in the Piddling rain I went to The Hall Of fame ,located at the Railway station.
For once my age was in my favour as I got a reduction on the entrance fee ,as they say “Every Little Helps”
Fascinating array of memorabilia of all sports regarding New Zealand My main interest was the ALL BLACKS Rugby and the BLACK CAPS Cricket. Brought back many fond memories of games that I had watched .
From there I made my way to Christchurch, bit of a long haul 3hours on still raining I stopped at an interesting café with a French name Mis Amis near a place called Geraldine .To my horror on entering I was confronted by 10 “Rug Rats” from 2 to 5years with their mums, pure bedlam!! Thank God after 10 mins they left ,Peace. And relaxing lunch. Pushed on then to Christchurch to the Marina Bar and Backpackers where I had inadvertently left my Passport and dollars .Had a quiet night 6 -1/2hours on the road.
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