Dunedin offers me steep streets and structure.

Tuesday morning I was up early to grab a bus at 8:00, destination: the city of Dunedin, some five hours South of Christchurch.

It was a pleasant route that I must have done back in 2004 when I drove from Christchurch to here, but for the life of me, none of it looked familiar.  Not the delightfully kitchy Salmon World in Rakaia, not the pretty towns of Timaru or Oamaru, not the distant snow-capped mountains.  Nothing.  It was like seeing for the first time. It was great.

My enchantment during the ride contined as I arrived in Dunedin.  It was definitely helped by the absolutely gorgeous weather.  The sky was a completely cloudless brilliant blue that makes a bad mood almost impossible.  What could make a good mood bad is having to trek nearly a km to my hostel with some 40 pounds of stuff on my back.  Almost all of it uphill.

Cause nearly everything seems to be uphill in Dunedin.  It is a city in constant battle with gravity.

The train station, on its side (sigh)

Inside the train station (right side up! huzzah!)

If you first arrive, like I did, at the train station, you might be lulled into a false sense of levelness.  As you make your way into town via the descriptively-named Octagon – an eight-sided open area fringed with bars, restaurants, theatres and shops – you start to get an inkling of the steeply-angled hell into which you are about to ascend.  The roads to the west suddenly and sharply veer upwards, and every step becomes an ordeal. 

I hate this photo program.  The photo was taken lengthwise, while the photo below was taken widthwise, yet here, they are both topsy turvy.  Screw you Blogger!

Yet another NZ city not built on a grid.

Hunched over, sweating profusely, you’re painfully aware of each and every ounce you’re carrying on your person when going uphill.  When you’re headed downhill, it might require less effort, but it’s still not easy.  In order to avoid going ass over tea kettle, you must adopt an odd backward-leaning posture by scooping your tailbone underneath you and taking exaggerated steps, like you're wearing too-big clown shoes.

The world's steepest street is some 5km from the downtown.  I haven't seen it myself, but I've read that it's an asthma attack-inducing 19 degree incline.

Going up up up!

Up some more (though it looks sideways)

Luckily, Dunedin makes up for its unwelcoming inclines with lots of charm.  The views are great, many of the buildings are impressively attractive, and it has a youthful energy thanks to the university around which the city seems to be built. (Unfortunately, a lot of this energy seems to be expelled via the smashing of beer bottles.  I’ve never seen so much broken glass on sidewalks before).

It’s Otago University that brought me here too.  I had my interview with the College of Education yesterday in the hopes that I’ll be accepted into their Graduate Diploma of Teaching program, which would start in January.

It’s hard for me to say whether it went well or not.  I do think they liked me and some of what I had to say seemed to impress them (“very insightful!”). But the fact that I haven’t spent any time in a classroom, other than as a student myself, has them a bit worried that I may not really know whether this is a career I’d be interested in. 

It’s something that has been weighing on me a bit too, so they suggested I contact one of the local schools and see about coming in for a few days next week.  So I have.  On Monday and Tuesday I’ll be sitting in on a bunch of classes at the school just behind my hostel (I can actually hear the kids playing outside as I type this). I’m looking forward to it.

A few more photos for you:

The view from near my hostel.

A church. (duh)

Some building near the train station (see how deceptively flat it is down there?)

And that’s not my only obligation this week (see, I can still have structure J ). On Thursday (as in, today) I’m going to be trying my hand at WWOOFing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms).  Basically, you help out on private farms for a few days in exchange for room and board.

I believe I’m going to be helping the owner with updating her website and doing some cleaning and maintenance work around her house.  Should be a good experience no matter what.