We spent an enjoyable afteroon on a tour of the Dunedin Peninsula, including a visit to Lanarch Castle (see pictures linked to the graphic at right), and Nature’s Wonders. Nature’s Wonders takes you on an ATV vehicle ride to see New Zealand Furry Seals basking in the sun along the shorline, as well as a view of some yellow-eyed penguins, which are apparently the rarest penguins of the 18 known species. Supposedly there are only about 400 left, and none in captivity as they reportedly do not fare well under those circumstances. We watched a few of them come up…
First Week Has Flown By
It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Dunedin a week now (well, in about 10 hours). Having thoroughly explored the city center and areas to the south of our flat and the university, we headed out to a short strip on St. King Street to the north of us. There we found a McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Domino’s Pizza as well as a number of bars and a big liquor store. Must be the end of town the university students frequent on evenings (drinking age here is 18). There are some some McDonald’s and Subway Sandwiches and a…
First Saturday In Dunedin: More Walking
Marie and I headed out to the Dunedin train station near the city center today as they hold the Otogo Farmers’ Market there every Saturday. It’s about the same size or perhaps slightly smaller than the farmer’s market in Hilo, minus all of the new age, incense and crystal-type vendors you find there. The train station is about a 20 minute walk from our flat. The fruits and produce were nice, perhaps a bit more expensive than what we are used to. Cherries, apricots and berries are plentiful and expensive, but delicious. Sorry there are no pics, but we knew…
Network, Sweet Network!
We finally got wireless broadband at our flat today, so life is sweet. Just in time for the weekend. I’ve posted some pics of Dunedin and our place on my Flickr account. We also caught a performance of Rarotonga song and dance in the Octagon in the Dunedin City Center. I need to catch up on some office work this weekend, so we’ll probably do less exploring this weekend than we did during the week, but who knows.
Days Of Adjustment
Days two and three of our Dunedin adventure were very smooth. I spent some time in the International Student Office filing some paperwork, got our lease signed and paid for, and had a chance to meet with Dan Bendrups to talk about their department and what I’ll be doing for the next six months. After a grand tour of the facilities we got spent an hour talking about my Ph.d. proposal, and the possibility of changing the topic to something more related to my interest – Hawaiian language and its significance to Hawaiian music. While my proposal was to research…
Kia Ora and Aloha From Dunedin!
Greetings to all denizens of the Northern Hemisphere from as close to Antarctica as I ever hope to be! My apologies to everyone for not being in contact sooner. Things were quite hectic as we visited with some friends for our last few hours while in Honolulu on Friday evening. With a very early Saturday morning flight we had no time to read or send emails, and boarded our Auckland-bound flight. We arrived safely in Auckland on Sunday evening (Saturday for you folks on the correct side of the International Date Line) and encountered absolutely no issues with immigration or…
Countdown To Liftoff Has Begun
My wife, daughter and I have begun to make final preparations for our trip to Aotearoa. We head to Honolulu on Saturday and from there leave for Auckland on Sunday. Our travel arrangements were finalized over a month ago, and we’re now simply preparing our final checklists and making sure nothing is forgotten. I spent some time this evening going through my computer bag, and found a manila folder full of documents from our aborted trip to Ireland. Contained within it were the refusal letters we were handed after being turned back from the Dublin airport, a faxed copy of…
Hele On to Otago….
The last major question mark for our travel to Aotearoa was answered yesterday when our passports were returned with the proper visas – I as a student and my wife and daughter as visitors. My daughter is enrolled in Logan Park High School which is only a short walk from the flat we have arranged near the university, which is equally close. Our tickets are purchased, and the adventure begins in Honolulu on January 6. We arrive in Auckland on the evening of January 7, and after a brief overnight stay we will fly straight to Dunedin. We’ll have three…
Kia Ora!
It looks as though, barring an unforeseen obstacle, that we will indeed be traveling to Dunedin in Aotearoa next semester as I begin Ph.d. studies. It was a bit difficult to get motivated to go through this process again after our experience in Ireland, however, my window of opportunity is narrow. If I don’t begin Ph.d. studies next semester I would have little choice but to put off the start of Ph.d. work until fall of 2009. Fortunately the enthusiasm expressed by the faculty at the University of Otago has been infectious and my initial reluctance to go through another…
Hele On To… Aotearoa?
After quickly regrouping and pulling our Hilo lives back together, we’re starting to look toward the future again. I’ve been corresponding with the faculty of the music department at the University of Otago in Aotearoa (New Zealand) again, and they have been very encouraging about my beginning Ph.d. studies there in February 2008. Some details remain to be worked out, but unless a major obstacle is encountered we will likely be in Dunedin by January. What is exciting about this is that there are no issues in having my family accompany me there. Foreign students seeking a Ph.d. there are…