Right, so one of the first things that I did this month was to take a trip down to Larnach Castle, during one of my long weekends at Emma's, courtesy of John, who even went as far as to provide me with information regarding the place's history. All in all a very impressive piece of architecture, constructed on the Otago peninsular to the specifics of a New Zealand merchant baron and politician William Larnach, and restored to its original state in 1967 by the family who purchased it; resplendent of Victorian design and the only castle that exists down here in the antipodeans...And lets be honest, somewhat unexpected down here. Unfortunately they didn't allow photography in the castle itself for some inexplicable reason, mores the pity, but I did get some very nice photos of the gardens and from the top of the castle's tower.
The week following my trip down to Larnach, I spent the next weekend round Emma's again. However this time, I had to make my own way there, as she was away and Paul working. So I figured I'd kill some time and visit the Dunedin Chinese Gardens; a sight that you would rarely see outside the country of origin. In fact, it is only one of few genuine Chinese Gardens to exist outside China; assembled on-site in Shanghai, then dismantled assembled here in Dunedin. It was an amazing feat of both engineering and architecture, and a great place to spend an afternoon; very peaceful. The food as well was very good, even the ice-cream (for those interested, it was green-tea; it tasted a little like pistachio, but with a more earthy undertone). Anyway, I eventually made it to Emma's, despite going the wrong way on more than one occasion, and now I know the correct route for future journeys.
Okay then, so what happened next, let me think...oh yes! I made a new friend; Judith Dobson, a student of Art at the local Polytechnic, in her third year, and who has now effectively become my sight-seeing companion, as she too is now on her holidays. She's a great person to have around, especially when it comes down to ideas for sight-seeing, since she has grown up in Dunedin. Anyway, one of the first tourist traps we decided to hit was the Speight's Brewery. Again I was able to get some impressive photos and learn a thing or two about the history of brewing beer along the way; for example our modern day word "boozer" comes from the Ancient Egyptian name for their pubs "boozah"...alright not the most useful piece of information I will grant you, but you never know if it may come in handy. Anyway, the interior of the brewery is as much as one might expect; gleaming copper vats and water tanks; personally I was reminded of the last level on Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, but that's just me.
Okay, the next major event that I suppose is worthy of mention was my attendance of the Carisbrook Stadium's swansong performance last weekend; the Rugby test match between the All Blacks and Wales. Don't ask me how John managed to obtain the tickets as I don't know. Needless to say, Wales were soundly beaten, the final score being something akin to 49-9 to the All Blacks. In Wales defense though, they did start off quite strong, managing to score the first 3 points. Regardless, their inevitable defeat didn't sop me from supporting them, (Judith and I were edging bets that this activity may well result in my getting lynched, fortunately this did not happen).
Anyway, moving on to the next activity the following Sunday. Since the weather had proven to be dismal yet again, Claire and John decided to take me down South to see the Purakaunui Waterfalls. I must admit, even with the rain, it gave the whole place a rather appropriate atmosphere, becoming somewhat like a rain forest. Anyway, the falls were absolutely stunning, and made for some great pictures.
Okay, most recent activities now. This time the destination was Judith's idea; she decided to show me Olveston House, seeing as she had a free pass and could get us in gratis. Again, photos were not permitted in the house for some wishy-washy reason, but we were allowed to take photos in the grounds and gardens surrounding the house. The design of the house itself was quite impressive, being that of early 1900's England. Despite the period, however, the house itself proved to have many modern innovations for its time, meaning that one could well live quite comfortably inside today, without having to make any serious or radical changes to the house itself. Anyway, following the tour of Olveston, the weather turned sour, so we chose to take a wander round the Dunedin Natural History Museum, including the butterfly exhibition, the artificially generated tropical climate being a welcome reprieve from the freezing exterior climate; again this provided a great venue for some interesting photos.
Okay well that's pretty much clued you into my leisure activities for the month thus far. Now onto the section regarding my activities at work. Work with the Union this month has been pretty sporadic, with only one event cropping up down at the Dunedin Early Settler's Museum. I'm not sure of the specifics, but it was definately some form of Gaelic music festival. It wasn't my most exciting job for the Union, but it was certainly the calmest; all we needed to do was hand out nibbles for the first 30-45 minutes, then move onto tending bar whilst we listened to the music. With Property Services though, things have been carrying on at there usual pace, the only difference being that we have now finished sweeping up leaves, (at least in the area that Graham and I tend to) and have now moved onto clearing out flower beds of both weeds and dead plants in preparation for new plantings for Summer.
Right, well that's pretty much the low down for my activities this month, as always I hope you enjoyed reading about them and you can check out all the pictures that I've taken this month by checking out the usual place:
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=719348724&v=info#!/album.php?aid=145622&id=719348724
Okay then folks, I gotta be moving on, and I can promise you a new update at the start of next month.
Laters,
Alex
