Dunedin Adventures

Dunedin

New Zealand

August 13, 2011

With my new found talent, coordinating tours for my international friends, myself and my friend Sam booked yet another trip. Kaikoura was spectacular, the scenery, the wildlife, and the memories were/are fantastic and will be remembered for the rest of my life. The trip to Dunedin, was a different sort of trip. It was just as good, but it wasn't about seeing wildlife, it was about experiencing a nice mix between nature and city.

Taieri George Railway Station.

Boarding the train... headed on a 4 hour tour throughout New Zealand's Wilderness.

Over the bridge, and through the woods... Taieri George Railway.

A breath of fresh air... ahh, nature at its finest!

The juxtaposition of a bridge crossing the native bush- remarkable!

Great friends, beautiful scenery... Does life get much better?

After riding the wooden train through nature's backyard, we begun the evening. Great Thai food, lots of laughs, and best of all, the late night was spent with 'The Big Night Out!' We visited 6 pubs, had pizza, met new people and most of all, enjoyed the buzz of Dunedin's downtown. The next morning, we woke up, made a hearty breakfast omelette filled with sausage, bacon and onions for everyone, and were back on the road. But before leaving, we checked out Dunedin's Historical Museum which was filled with artifacts, stuffed native wildlife, and live butterflies! We had to visit one impressive street... the steepest street in the world!

At the base

Making a run for it!

This caught my attention... Woah, cool!

Halfway there... It started snowing a lot (time to hurry up and get on the road)

Enjoying our time on the steepest street (19 degrees) in the world.

We made it!

It was really getting snowy out, so we decided it was time to hit the road and head for the Moeraki boulders before the weather got too bad to travel in!

Entering the Moeraki beach... we were in for a surprise!

Beautiful.

I took a little hike away from the beach, and experienced some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen!

This is how a Moeraki Boulder is formed...

Slowly forming into a Moeraki Boulder... nature is powerful!

We grabbed a cup of cafe, some sammies, and were headed back on a 4 hour trip to little ol' Lincoln University. Our next adventure will probably be in Queenstown, New Zealand, doing some river rafting or bungee jumping! For now, myself and ten other buddies are headed to Australia on Saturday to tour Sydney, rent a car and drive up to Brisbane, sightseeing in between, and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef! Cheers.

″A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” – Moslih Eddin Saadi

Some Kiwi Slang That I've Learned... with a splash of Kaikoura Adventures

College -- high school, not university

Bush -- forest or scrub wilderness

About to be surprised by a mass of seals!

Biscuit -- cookie

Fizzy drink -- soda pop, i.e., carbonated softdrink

Seals.

Gidday-- hello

Gumboots-- rubber boots (Everyone wears them! At the library, right at the entrance is a bin for you to drop your Gumboots into. It is normally quite full. People often walk around and go to classes in wool socks or bare foot.)

Found a rare, pink seal.

Ground floor-- first floor

Hotdog-- corndog

Hooray-- goodbye

Half Hour later... still watching in amazement.

Hire-- rent

Lolly-- candy

Lift-- elevator

Is this reality?

Ladybird-- ladybug

Mum-- Mom

Oz-- Australia

Right before we got on our bus. 

Sammies-- sandwiches

Tramping-- hiking

Stuffed-- exhausted

Toasties-- grilled Cheese (often with many extra toppings-

 Resting... There baby is in the bush.                       such as ham, spaghetti, pineapple and creamed corn)

                                                       Swot-- study

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world.  This makes it hard to plan the day.  ~Elwyn Brooks White

Bringing a slice of home to Christchurch, New Zealand

Project:

Red Zone- Re-Housing 30,000-45,000 People

Bulldozing the Red Zone

= Green, Open Space + Sustainable Housing

The Challenge: Where do we re-house all these residents?

A n d r e w       T e s s a       H i l l a r y       M a t t h e w     ~ Lincoln Landscape Architecture

Okay so where do we start?

Soils...

What's exisiting...

What do we see...sketching our ideas...

Housing Densities... How will they look...

Low- 30 homes per hectare ( 2.3 acres per hectare)

Medium- 55/ HA

High- 73/ HA

Building Models...

Presentation- Friday!

Then a presentation to Christchurch City Council!

Then we split off and create our own, detailed designs of what we envision.

For Housing Densities, I am using Croton-on-Hudson's Half Moon Bay (housing development)
as a concept to work off of... my classmates thought it was the perfect
solution... so perhaps Christchurch will one day look like Half Moon Bay!

(In case you do not know, I live in Croton-on-Hudson)

How cool would that be?


MB