Into the Asylum

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After getting my fill of adrenaline, I headed over to the east coast- first stop Dunedin. It was strange going back to a big town, possibly even considered a city, where there’s a downtown with tall buildings and people walking the streets even after the shops close down! Considering all this, Dunedin is quite a nice town. The University provides an eclectic student vibe resulting in a thriving arts scene and fun nightly outings. This time through Dunedin I just spent one day before heading a half hour north to Seacliff to a really nice hostel- The Asylum Lodge. From the very moment I stepped into the door I knew this would be a fun place! I immediately got invited to join in on the mussel feed just about to take place. Earlier in the day, about 10 people from the hostel had gone mussel picking bringing back a massive amount of mussels. After being stuffed full of delicious mussels, I was invited to go to the Moeraki Boulders with a german girl. We arrived at low tide to see these perfectly round boulders sticking out of the sand with the waves gently lapping against them. I was just blown away! They looked like giant marbles all washed onto shore. After hopping from boulder to boulder, we drove back toward the hostel stopping at a penguin sanctuary where we saw heaps of yellow-eyed penguins and seals.
The Asylum lodge is a pretty unique hostel in that it is on the old grounds of the asylum hospital that served Dunedin. The owner Frank is an avid classic car collector and has filled two of the large empty buildings with cars that need some sort of restoration. There are also heaps of activities on offer: surfing, sea fishing on kayaks, snorkelling, spear fishing, mussel picking, and horseback riding. Each morning we’d all pile into the cars and drive to the beach to surf. Every night we’d get a small sampling of sushi made from the fresh fish caught that day. On my second day there, we went surfing down in Dunedin where the waves were pretty big and sloppy. Somehow I got hit on the nose with my board as I was being tumbled about, resulting in a nice horizontal cut right on the bridge of my nose. At least now I’ve got a scar to always remember my time at the Asylum! On the days when the surf wasn’t happening, I just chilled at the hostel and even helped wax one of the classic cars. It was quite a job, taking about 2 hours to get it all completed, but it was worth it in the end because I got a ride in one of Frank’s convertibles as my payment and even a free surf rental!
I really enjoyed the four days I stayed here, such a laid-back atmosphere but with plenty of activities to choose from. There were also a lot of really cool backpackers staying here and I ended up running into them over the next few weeks farther up the coast. This was one of my more favourite hostels I stayed at in New Zealand.

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Comments

[Aunt Mary]

Love your blog!
Hi Anna! I so enjoy reading about your adventures. Thank you for filling us in. You write so vividly; it feels like I'm right there with you! I loved the adrenaline rush descriptions and "wow'd" your courage. Miss you though.