Report 13

The Fall/Easter/ANZAC Day* break is two weeks worth at the University, so we used this opportunity to spend 10 days on a trip through the lower half of the South Island. Highlights in this and the next few reports.

We flew to Dunedin, a city settled by the Scots (Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinburgh) on the SE coast. Friend Tim Nuzum, in Albq, spent a year in college there (Otago University) and his guidance helped us spend two nights and a day there. We stayed in a B&B halfway up a hill overlooking the city and harbor (somewhere in the distance in this picture). The husband of the proprietor couple drives a tour bus, so he also helped in planning our itinerary.

At any rate, Dunedin is at the base of a long harbor. We drove out the peninsula that is the south arm of the harbor, enjoying great views of the harbor on one side, the Pacific on the other, stopping at the Larnach Castle. Larnach was an extravagant businessman and politician in the late 1800’s who built the only castle in NZ – which you might think is unusual given NZ’s British Isles heritage, but not when you consider it was generally not the gentry that settled here. Susie detected that all was not right with Larnach when one introductory display noted that he built the castle to out-do one in Scotland owned by a relative. Subsequently we found out that Larnach committed suicide after (apparently) learning that his son by his first wife was having an affair with his, Larnach’s, third wife. Bummer.

Back in town, we explored downtown, including visiting the Catholic and Presbyterian churches, the latter founded by a nephew of the poet Robert Burns who is honored by a statue in the Octagon in the city center. We toured the Cadbury Candy factory, lots of free samples, then had dinner at Tim’s recommended Albert Arms – an Irish pub/restaurant (fish and chips, naturally for me). We had hoped for some live entertainment there, this being Friday night, but none was scheduled. In my early morning walk downtown, however, I had seen another Irish pub advertising live music, so we finished our evening there with some fine entertainment.

Our goal the next day was to drive to Te Anau, the gateway to Milford Sound, which is in the SW of the island. On the way, Susie said, I’d really like to go to the very bottom of the island, so we did. The route passed through two fairly nondescript towns named Clinton and Gore, but the locals had made the most of this happenstance, as Susie demonstrates. Oh, well. 50% right is pretty good when you consider it.

And while we’re on place names, somewhere we passed through the town of Athol, named, we hear, for a rather irritable bloke with a lisp.

The bottom of the South Island is the village of Bluff (there’s another small, inhabited NZ island south of this so this is not the bottom of the country), its geographic position being signified by this signpost. You have the feeling that Antarctica is just over the horizon, but actually this site is just below the halfway point between the equator and the South Pole. Some souvenir shops sell an inverted world map with the South Pole and southern hemisphere at top. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Tomorrow, Milford Sound

* A word about ANZAC Day. It's their Memorial Day, commemorating the Australia New Zealand Army Corps campaign in WWI to take Gallipoli, a peninsula in SW Turkey guarding the entrance to Constantinople (Istanbul). This, I take it, was the first time these two young countries went to war for the British Empire. The landing occurred on April 25, 1915, but was unsuccessful. After several months and horrendous casualties the ANZAC troops had to withdraw. What little I've read about this battle indicates it was an ill-conceived and -executed campaign. Memorials soon sprung up all over the country to honor the Kiwis who died there and it's considered a very important part of the country's heritage. TV and newspapers make a bigger fuss than we do for Memorial Day. Also, it's interesting that there are 3.5 days a year in which most businesses close down: Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and ANZAC Day morning. The first three are derived from the country's religious heritage, but now it seems that unions and a general feeling that workers deserve some designated times off keep it going. There are exceptions, though. For example, if you operate a business in a "tourist" area you can stay open, but the same business elsewhere cannot. You have to be regarded as essential to stay open. The garden shops seem to making the most noise now about changing the law so they can stay open.

Cheers.

Rob and Susie

T OF C