Among the First to Welcome the New Year

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We saw a few sights around Dunedin after Christmas, went to one of the beaches, and managed to get the van's exhaust system fixed too - it is so much quieter! We went for a tour of Speight's Brewery, one of the oldest and sole remaining gravity fed breweries in the world. We had a great guide who made the tour very entertaining; he even recommended the folk music festival we would later attend for New Years.

We helped Duane and Charlotte with some yard clean-up and enjoyed the sunshine; Christina weeded the garden and Kirby mowed the steeply sloped lawn and cleaned out some of the gutters.

Being a day ahead of the Western world, we tested the waters of 2008 first, and did it with style at Whare Flats Folk Festival. Although it wasn't at all what we had anticipated, we had a great time. It was a small four-day festival with fiddle-type bands and a caller was instructing folk dances when we arrived. The dances were large group dances similar to square dancing with their own flare. After watching a few, we joined in, learned some new moves and had a lot of fun bringing in the new year with the locals. The night seemed to go on much longer than we did; we were outlasted by a number of middle-aged couples ripping it up on the dance floor.

Another day we went to watch yellow-eye penguins; they come in from sea for the night around dusk. You can see the foggy roads we drove through on our way to the sand dunes and beach where they come in; the fog didn't stay around very long but was very beautiful. We took the binoculars and managed to spot a couple of penguins and some sea lions but didn't get any great pictures to post. It was a lot of fun bounding down the steep sand dunes but going back up was a different story.

January 4th we went to see a cricket match between the New Zealand Black Caps and Bangladesh. It was the first day test match of a four day game. We watched the first 5 hours but left before the first day had finished. It is definitely a crazy sport. It took 4 hours for one team to bat (that is half an inning), then after they have been out in the sun for the majority of the day, the other team starts with their response (the second half). They have two batting attempts, if needed, and then the match is over. Not knowing much about cricket, we were intrigued, and left with just about enough knowledge to watch highlights now. It is worth mentioning that is cricket is the only game, (we know of anyway), that has a lunch break in the middle of play. It is definitely a sport of endurance - both for the players and the fans!

Over and out, C

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Photos

Speight's Brewery Tasting
After our tour, we got to pour our own and sample from the 6 beers brewed by Speight's. Charlotte and Duane are tasting here and our entertaining guide is on the left.

The Perfect Woman
Just in case you wanted a closer look at what a perfect woman looks like.

St. Kilda Beach
Relaxing on the beach. It was a bit too cool to swim that day.

Yard Clean-up
Kirby sweeping the back walkway after pruning some of the overgrown plants. He also mowed the lawn on a pretty steep gradient.

A Whare Flats Band
One of the bands that played on New Years.

New Year's Barn Dance
A long exposure of a folk dance at the Whare Flats Folk Festival. A neat photo to gaze at.

Break - Dancers
Taking a break after learning some new moves in the group dances.

Fog over the Peninsula
A few minutes drive from where we are staying. Fog set in over the hills on our drive to go see the penguins.

Foggy Drive
The van before it drives into the foggy abyss.

Doing the Dunes
Can you spot Kirby bounding down the steep sand dunes? They were a lot quicker to descend than to climb up again.

Cricket Spectators
Duane, Charlotte, Kirby and Christina on the lawn at the Cricket match. It was a beautiful sunny day.

Cricket Match
Here the bowler fires a fast pitch to the batter.

Driving the Coast by Night
A night long exposure of a car driving the curvy coastline.

View of Dunedin
Night view of the Dunedin city lights over the water.

Comments

[Betty A]

prairie dogs
It's so great that you are seeing and doing so many 'firsts' for you. So many things us prairie dogs don't see!

[Kim]

great blog!
This is great that you are doing this. I must agree with Natalie that it really does help your freezing cold friends live vicariously through you. And what better way to live than vicariously?! So good to see you are having a great time. Not only great, but life altering, I'm sure. My jealousy abounds. Keep the posts coming.