Dunedin: An encounter with the Scarfies

Dunedin is a student town of about 150,000 people, 25,000 of which study more or less actively (the numbers vary according to the source but that's a rough estimate). The city's biggest employer is the University of Otago, students of which are known as Scarfies. While I was making beds in Invercargill, I met a girl of the said denomination, who invited me to sleep on their student flat couch during my stay in Dunedin. Any chance to get immersed in student culture was more than welcome so I gladly accepted the offer.

During the five days I spent in Dunedin, I really began to feel like I had been there before. This is probably due to the fact that the town is about the size of Jyväskylä, my hometown in Finland, and also possesses a similar student-to-inhabitant-ratio. Massive parties are not unheard of and in fact on almost any night you can find students populating one or the other bar at the center of town, an area which is known as the Octagon (sinister, I know!). Dunedin is also home to the Speight's brewery, of which I took a small tour, and the allegedly world's steepest street; Baldwin Street.

Some views from the Catlins on the way to Dunedin.

More from the Catlins.

A view from the top of Baldwin Street.

Even the notorious Scarfies gaped at my choice of drink.

Somebody else's choice was the local brew.

N

NZ lager was the inferior choice. I should've had Speight's!

Invercargill - the arsehole of the world?

Even if the Rolling Stones don't like Invercargill, for me it felt like a welcome return to reality after all the made-upness of Queenstown. Here was a 50,000-inhabitant rural town at the end of the world that wasn't pretending that it was particularly interesting nor exhilirating. After arriving in Invercargill I hired a car with two of my friends and drove down to Bluff, which is the southernmost town in mainland New Zealand, the only more southern one being Oban (Halfmoon Bay) on Stewart Island. It was an experience to stand at the lookout, swept by the Antarctic winds and looking out to the ocean, behind which somewhere lay that the most forgotten of continents. After a some hearty fish and chips we took the car back to Invercargill and returned to the hostel.

In Invercargill I hopped off the Stray-bus for a longer time for the first time, planning to do Help Exchange. It is a website and a community where travellers can find people who need a little help around their house or business. The volunteers then work for their employers 2-3 hours a day in exchange for housing and sometimes meals. It is a type of hospitality exchange akin to couchsurfing and wwoofing. The place at where I worked for two weeks was a small backpacker hostel called Sparky's Backpackers. The experience acted as a welcome breather from my fast-paced travel and a change to work on my further itinerary.

Here's a couple of photos from Invercargill:

Yes, I usually support local businesses but this was too much to pass up!

A view from Queen's Park, one of Invercargill's few attractions.

 

Queenstown - An activity junkie's Mecca

If you're into activities such as bungee jumping, skydiving, kayaking, whitewater rafting, skiing, snowboarding, ice-skating or any other activity that can be imagined, you'll be sure to find it in Queenstown. Situated in Central Otago, in the middle of the mountains on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown is New Zealand's current ”the place to be” for travellers. The place reminded me a bit of the towns in the Alps, in which great numbers of ski tourists congregate to spend their days skiing on the mountains and their evenings in the bars getting hammered. 

I do not have any photos from Queenstown since my camera battery was empty all the while. Me and my friends hopped off the Stray bus here for about five days, which we filled with alternating days of being either drunk or hungover. My friends went skiing a couple of times but I decided to stay at the hostel since my budget will have to be stretched in order last all the way back to Finland. As a popular tourist destination Queenstown is not cheap, but at least you can find some pretty good deals for activities online from bookme.co.nz. Accommodation is also more expensive than in less populated destinations.

South Island photos vol. II

Pizza night in Greymouth

Happy pizzaists in Greymouth

Franz Josef Glacier town views

More Franz Josef views

As close as we got to the glacier before night fell.

A hot chocolate which cost me a fortune. 

Posing for a bungee jump in Queenstown.

The height of the jump was 43 meters.

Dangling after the jump. Jump photos by Travis Ball.

Travis's travel blog can be found from here for those interested. His photos are awesome!

South Island photos

Here's some photos from the South Island leg of my bus tour.

Abel Tasman National Park.

Reminds me of Hemingway...

I tried to capture the mountains in the background.

On a scenic walk Andy decided that he's had enough.

A rocky beach somewhere.

South Island coastline. 

A shot of the Stray-crew on the walk.

That's me, on a hill.

Wellywood photos

And here's some photos from the city I've liked most during my time in NZ.

You have to careful with this fountain or you'll get wet while passing!

Street art

The coolest street. Reminds me of J-town.

The skyscraper was rocking in the wind so they made a hole in it. 

Spinning M&M's.

World's ugliest parliament building.

A view from the Wellington harbour.

Cuba street view.

The only rose that was blooming in the rose garden.