The Deep South

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Dunedin
November 19th 2009

Published: January 4th 2010

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Yertle

Dunedin, from the Octagon

Next up the South Island- notorious for a more country, laid back lifestyle. I boarded a plane aimed for Christchurch and after an uneventful stroll through the Cathedral marketplace I loaded my duffel on a bus destined for Dunedin, one of the oldest cities in NZ.

Even though summer had begun to dissipate the student population that is so prevalent in Dunedin, it still has a relatively young and lively feel, while much the photographs say it’s all old as Moses. I headed for Fairfield first, a farming suburb outside town to WWOOF on the Grant Farm with two true-blue Kiwis, Tom and Jeanette. The Grants warmly welcomed me to their Worm/Sheep Farm and B&B in the countryside where they spent most of their whole lives. Tom, 81 years young, moved faster, steadier and stronger than I in most any of the activities of manual labor we persuade that week on the farm, from weeding sheep paddocks to moving heaps of vermacast (worm processed soil). I was lucky enough to pretend fly two of the biplanes that Tom crafted (from scratch) although the DVR German Replica was out of commission due to a crash landing last month -

Speight's Brewery

They even let me pour for 30 min, irresponsible decision

they both have explored much of the South Island's skies, crazy enough.

Well versed in worm farming and the art of staying young, I sought out fellow North Carolinian, Olivia for some Thanksgiving festivities. In summary it was all smiles for my tape worm, Olivia and me. Lbs of Cadbury Chocolate lined my stomach first from a factory tour that was lacking luster but provided at least 2 molar cavities, and up next was an American-style hotdog, which wasn’t quite a trolley stop surfer dog, but it hit the spot. To top is all off we ventured over to a lively Speights Brewery tour, where for a relatively unsupervised 30 min we poured golden goodness from the taps until I hearts were content. After collecting the necessary tourist items, such as a genius glove-like invention that makes a cold PBR and a warm hand a reality at your next oyster roast or tailgate party, we dug up traditions to pass to our kiwi mates for Sunday's big feast.

Plenty to be thankful for, I ventured off to the Dunedin Peninsula in search of the local pride Albatross (basically giant, graceful seagulls in far less quantities) and

Recently Crashed, but Built from scratch by Mr Tom Grant

Penguins. Babette, a kind-hearted Dutch lady from my hostel, and I found no birds fitting such a description, but we came across many penguins mostly in man-made shelters and donning color schemes that haven’t been popular since Paula Abdul was actually tolerated.

Early after my Sunday nap, I awoke to find my +1kg Cadbury Chocolate Egg from the tour silently challenging me to devour it. 15 min later I collected the disgarded foil wrappings and realized it was time to expel some of that energy, so I set my sights on the world’s steepest road, literally - Baldwin St in Northeast Dunedin. Full to the brim on Coco, I conquered it, without a khankle cramp or the tiniest bit of regurgitation.

Later that day, Olivia and I tried our hardest to re-created green bean casserole, but missing the primary pre-made ingredient (friend onions) we were expecting failure at the New Zealander hosted Thanksgiving Feast (Sunday after T-Day). Fortunately the NZers (especially those in the south!) warmly welcomed any compliment to a spread that could almost compete with the real American tradition at the usual Southern dinner table - Aunt Millie’s. Our other addition of Speights Ice

Jubilation for these kids!

Post-Cadbuy Chocolate Tour, with the goods in hand - giant chocolate egg and bag of goodies.

Cream was tasty but didn’t inhance the made-from-scratch pumpkin pie well. Olivia's Kiwi family eagerly participated in any tradition we could throw at them (and made up a few on the spot) except for the impossible viewing of American Football. In its place we viewed a documentary of the Topp Twins, a locally famous banjo-playing sister duo, which can only be explained with video samples.

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