Dunedin

It's pronounced 'du-neee-din'. My dad kept on saying 'du-nuh-din'.

Our original plan for New Zealand, was to start from Christchurch and travel to the west coast. Glaciers are around that area. However, this summer apparently has been having 'really weird weather', so there were floods, rockfalls, this and that and roads were closed off. So, we ended up spending a few nights in  Dunedin.

It's quite a nice town, but it was real quiet when we were around. I think it was due to the students being on vacation (Dunedin is a university town).


Things to see in Dunedin:

- We visited the Larnarch castle. I quote my dad "It's not an actual castle where they built it to defend, but it's a 'rich man's castle'." It's pretty, it's big. The gardens are especially beautiful. And the story behind this 'rich man' is quite tragic. He ended up committing suicide.

- We went to see this wildlife tour, and we saw penguins and seals. Quite cute. The cart was so much fun to ride in. Bumpy and fast, something I've never really done before. Would highly recommend the tour.

- Dudenin Chinese garden. When I showed my sisters the pictures, they were like "When was that? Is that in China?". The place is quite pretty, and we were pretty hungry so we ended up getting some snacks like dumplings and buns.

We also went on this boat wild life tour which my dad liked. There were some albatrosses, seals and birds.

I, however on the other hand, did not like it at all. I wish I hadn't taken that boat ride. I've never felt that sea sick before! As we headed out to sea further and further, there was a huge and slow rock motion. I just can't take the sea. The sea and I do not mix. Like oil and water.

Eateries:
We didn't actually eat at a lot of places, we went to The reef seafood restaurant twice.

My dad said that the chowder was as good as the ones we've had in San Francisco, in Boudin bakery. However, on the second time we visited, it wasn't as good as the first. Different chef :(

Pier 24

Scallops with roasted pork belly.

We also ate at Pier 24, and I really liked that! We had a really nice view of the sea, and the food was exceptionally good.

My mum had the venison. I had a bite, and it was so tender and succulent. Venison in NZ is certainly delicious.

My dad and I had the salmon encrusted with cornmeal and some tortellini. I enjoyed this, it was quite light and the salmon was cooked well. Beautiful presentation as well.

Random observations during the first few days in NZ..

baaaaaaa

- The stereotype of the 'sheep in New Zealand' is actually surprisingly quite true. Okay, maybe when you go to the countryside. And then you've just got sheep everywhere, I'm actually not kidding. Oh did you know that they use possum fur as well? I saw possum jackets.... #petatakesomeaction

- A lot of people who don't live in Australia, will say, "Kiwis and Aussies sound the same." (e.g, my Malaysian friend's brother said so). I beg to differ. I don't know how to describe the action, but it's kind of like extending the eees like 'jackeeeet', and half the time, my dad could not understand the action. When the waiter asked him if he wanted cracked pepper, he just looked at her blankly.

- Kiwi people are friendly, especially the ones in small towns.