April 17 - 9 pm

Mellowist day. I can sum it up in a few words: Art gallery. Cafe. Library. Spaghetti. Book.
That's really all there is to say.
There was an interesting hour at the cafe when a strange old man asked if he could sit at my table, and then proceeded to tell me about his thoughts on the United States and the world, and how we're all doomed because North Korea is going to bomb the US, and how the population is exploding with Asians and Blacks, and the Whites are in the minority and losing their power. He had a dozen notebooks he kept flipping through that were covered in scribbles. They were his "work". He researched nuclear reactions. I think he was a bit crazy. And racist. He was originally from Australia and he was trying to get back there because he was sick of it here. Oh boy. Yep, that was pretty interesting. He borrowed my pen and didn't give it back. At least I was able to escape after an hour.
Bored in the hostel. Moving on tomorrow to Queenstown. Looking forward to it.

April 16 - 10:30 pm

Another day in Dunedin. More walking, more sightseeing, more museums and shops, and all that jazz. Started out a bit drizzly, but cleared up. Brisk fall weather. I went to the University of Otago and wandered around campus. I may have picked up some information on international transfer students and scholarships.. Just a thought. It was a really nice, pretty campus. Right next door is the Otago Museum, so I strolled around the museum for a bit. Really interesting exhibit on the Christchurch earthquakes, with actual video footage of the quakes, and lots of photos and other displays. So I liked that. I then walked myself to the world's steepest street, right here in Dunedin, New Zealand. The name of the street is Baldwin Street, and it is steep. There are steps on one side of the street where the sidewalk is. I had to stop a few times on the walk up to rest. It was really like hiking a very steep hill. Such a thrill, I know. But I did run into some missionaries on my way back to town. One from Sandy, Utah! Fresh on the mish, just 3 weeks in New Zealand. The other was from Melbourne, Australia. So it was fun to talk to them for a minute. They were pretty surprised that I waved to them when they rode by on their bikes. Missionaries here don't exactly get the royal treatment that they get in Utah.
Yeah, so those were the highlights of the day.

April 15 - 8:10 pm

I went to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory today. Not really, but kind of. The Cadbury chocolate factory here in Dunedin. They do tours, so I signed up for it hoping it would be like the Wonka factory. Not exactly. We did get to walk through some of the factory and see the conveyor belts and packaging machines and pipes that carry the liquid chocolate. We had to wear hairnets and they showed us some films about different chocolate making processes. We even got to see a chocolate waterfall! But it wasn't that cool. Not like Wonka's chocolate waterfall. They gave us some different Cadbury chocolate products along the way. Stuff we don't have in the US, like chocolate covered marshmallows, and something called a Turkish delight. So that was my Wonka experience.
I also went to the Dunedin Railway station, which is a really cool old building - New Zealand's most photographed building. Second in Australasia only to the Sydney Opera House. And I also went to the Otago Settlers Museum, which I enjoyed. Lots of neat old photos and stuff from the nineteenth and twentieth century. Very modern and interactive exhibits.
I spent the rest of the afternoon looking around shops, eating fish 'n' chips, and hanging out at the library. Not too exciting at the hostel tonight. Reading quite a bit. Eating my chocolate goodies.

April 14 - 10:30 pm

Excellent day. I hopped on a bus, walked about a half an hour to Tunnel Beach, got there right at low tide. This beach was sooo cooool! The waves were intense and constant. The rock formations and cliffs were awesome. There were two tunnels- one natural tunnel in the cliff that went into the water, and one manmade tunnel which took you down through the hillside to the beach. Not sure which tunnel gave the beach its name. The sun was out, so it felt good to just sit on the beach and listen to the waves, feel the sunshine and the breeze. Explore the area. Very neat. I had to time it so I got back to the bus stop at 3:05 since they didn't have as many buses running on Sunday, so I got back to the city centre right around 3:30. I didn't feel like doing anything else in town, so I went back to Hogwartz. I met a girl in the tv room. Rebecca from Amsterdam. We watched a movie and then ate dinner and played UNO and then watched another movie. She was cool - if I can be sarcastic and joke with someone then I can get along with you pretty well most likely. She was sarcastic and a competitive UNO player, so it was fun. We got another girl - Fabienne from Switzerland to play too. I won most of the games. Even with the weird Dutch rules. Then we watched another movie.
Back in our room, our other roommates were playing "guess each others names and nationalities and ages". It was hilarious. These 33 and 35 year old kiwi sisters, guessing the rest of us. They thought I was either South American or Israeli or Canadian. And when I said I was an American and my name started with a B, they guessed my name was Brittany or Breanne, but ended up calling me Britt Britt even after i told them my name was Bridget. Close enough. Then we played who's youngest to oldest. Rebecca and I got voted youngest. They thought I was 19-20. Then we all guessed the kiwi girls' names and to do that they acted out their names using charades rules. Nancy and Caroline. They were using German accents and making fun of all the German travelers here, and that was hilarious. I would not have thought they were in their 30s. Mid twenties maybe. Anyway, that was another highlight of my day. Unfortunately, Rebecca leaves Dunedin tomorrow, and I've decided to stay here until Thursday, so that's that.

April 13 - 6 pm

Started a new book yesterday- Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls. I'm sitting in the reading loft at Hogwartz - my hostel in Dunedin, it's a really neat old building. It was actually the Catholic bishop's home from the 1870s. No bunk beds! And really nice bathrooms! Exciting! But it was a hard journey from the bus stop to the hostel..
I first had to walk to the bus stop this morning in Cromwell. A long walk, but along a flat, straight road. The 3.5 hour ride to Dunedin was a scenic one. Like all of my bus trips. Green pastures, fall colors, hills and mountains, never a dull view. But then we arrived at the bus terminal. I started my trek toward the city centre. Started out flat, suddenly started to climb a little, then a bit more, and then I was hiking. And sweating. And aching. It took me about 30 minutes. Through the city centre, uphill all the way. The whole way I was wishing I had called a taxi.. But I made it. And it was worth it to be in this hostel I think. But I might need to get a massage when I get home.
I walked around downtown Dunedin a bit, around the Octagon, which is the city centre, and down George St. And some of the surrounding areas. Lots of young people, lots of cool boutique shopping and trendy skate brand shops and cafes. I was hungry for lunch, but had a hard time finding a place I wanted to go to (or could afford that wasn't McDonald's). But a burger sounded good (as usual) and I went to Velvet Burger. Kinda like a Fergburger or Burger Fuel - I had a lamb burger that was like a gyro on a bun. Lamb patty, cucumber and yoghurt sauce, tomato and lettuce. But it was really good. Accompanied by a world famous L&P soda (only famous in New Zealand). I love that NZ soda and I will miss it when I get back to America..
Went to the library for Internet, talked to mom and pop on the phone, and went grocery shopping. I needed Weetbix and milk.. Another NZ staple I will miss dearly.
No plans yet for tonight. I'll probably go out and walk around, see what the people of Dunedin are up to on this Saturday night. Gotta live it up - second to last Saturday down under!