New Zealand Part 1 - To Dunedin

I have been home from my visit to New Zealand for nearly 3 weeks but I did promise to post some of my photos. My main reason for going was to show my sister the city where I want to live. I think she now agrees it is a nice city but is still not happy at my moving so far away. I was, however, very sad to leave and am getting very frustrated at all the delays in preparing my house for sale.
We flew from Sydney to Dunedin (about 3 hours) on October 31 which is Halloween. This is almost ignored in Australia but quite important in New Zealand. As we had dinner that night at a pavement restaurant in the Octagon (the main centre of the city) we were passed by many dressed as ghosts, witches and ghoulies heading for parties. Dunedin has a population of 120,000 but has about 25,000 studying at the University of Otago so this would account for the rather lively night scene.

Saturday we visited the city centre again and The Anglican cathedral of St Paul plus the imposing Railway Station (on right) then drove up through the suburbs where I want to live. I can only make general surveys until I sell my home here in Australia.






Then after lunch we went to Baldwin Street which is the steepest street in the world. My sister was not willing to walk up it and I had done so before so we just drove which is scary enough. Then we drove out over the hills to the port.




On Sunday we attended Eucharist at St John's Roslyn which is the parish in which I hope to live. It was crowded but there was an adult baptism which may have increased numbers. I made myself known to the Vicar, Archdeacon Kelvin Wright whose blog I have been reading. Good to see many families but I did wish one mother would control her little girl who ran all around the altar during the consecration.
It was a beautiful day and we spent most of it at the Botanical gardens where the Rhododendron festival was in full swing














On Monday morning we went to Lanarch castle in the morning and on the afternoon we took a wildlife tour on the Otago Peninsula where we saw albatrosses flying overhead then down to a beach with sea lions, penguins and a headland with seals.
























The Albatross video below is my first attempt at connecting 3 clips into one movie so please do not laugh at the amateur