Oot and aboot in Dunedin

Spent the day looking around Dunedin. First of all, I walked down to the train station which is a spectacular Edwardian building. Stunning from the outside and inside the main hall is all tile and mosaic floors.


I booked myself for a four-hour return train trip tomorrow afternoon through the Taieri Gorge. Seems like a good thing to do on New Year's day.

Then I went to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. It is a great little municipal gallery. Their regular collection contains some paintings by Monet and Tissot (testament to the wealth of this city in its early days). And they had a special exhibit on of the work of New Zealand artist Rita Angus. Up until a few months ago I had never heard of Rita Angus but when I was reading Fay Weldon's autobiography she talked about having her portrait painted as a child by a family friend, Rita Angus (the portrait was on the jacket of the book). It was a great exhibit and now I want to know much more about Rita Angus. The book in the gallery shop was much too heavy to cart around so I will have to order it online when I return home. I don't even have to make a note to myself as I know you will all remind me. There were also two other exhibits that were very good. One was Peter Stichbury (highly realistic "portraits" culled together from various faces he sees around him on the streets or in the media -- there was a very good one inspired by various google searches of people's photos combined with Sister Wendy Beckett.) The second was Michele Beevors who had constructed what seem to be oversized replicas of Disney figures but they are all slighly macabre -- a group of cute bunnies huddled in the corner look simply cute and cartoonish till you notice the bullet holes in their foreheads and a huge Snow White leers down at you holding her ripped-out heart in one hand and gesturing with her middle finger of the other hand. I had a good laugh at it all but apparently they were getting lots of complaints from unsuspecting gallery patrons.

One of the other delightful things about the gallery was three Brits who amused the heck out of me. They came prancing through the rooms. I know people don't usually prance but they did. The woman was, shall we say, large and in a long black dress holding (I kid you not) a red feather fan. She just kept saying to one of the guys "Oooooooooh, Davie, look at this. Ooooooooooh, Davie, isn't this nice? Oooooooooh, Davie, I like this frame. Oooooooooooh, Dave, do you like this one? Oooooooooo, Davie, look." All the while fanning herself with her big red feather fan. I thought maybe they were one of the exhibits -- a performance piece about strange people. Then they started opening all the drawers of the Regency furniture on exhibit ("Oooooooooh, Davie, look at this piece") and touching all the frames. Although they were intriguing and I had planned to follow them around and eavesdrop. I got away from them at that point figuring they were going to set of an alarm at some point and I didn't want to be part of being kicked out of an art gallery. Hopefully they will turn up at the New Year's festivities tonight.

After the art gallery I found a seat at one of the outdoor cafes that had a tapas menu and ordered a little bowl of chorizo sausage and one of couscous salad with sundried tomatoes and almonds. Oh, and a glass of pinot gris, of course.

Then I went for a walk along George Street, the main shopping street, and wandered in and out of the shops.

After that I headed off to the Otago Museum and had a look around their at their exhibits of area wildlife and Maori history.

I really like the feeling of Dunedin -- very vibrant and doesn't feel overly touristy. The architecture is great. Big old stone buildings and nice storefronts with original features in place. If I get in trouble here all should be well as there seem to be an awful lot of barrister and solicitor offices around. This is my favourite one in an old building that makes me feel like I am in an Alexander McCall Smith "44 Scotland Street" book and I should be able to walk down the steps to Lou's coffee bar...


I am back in my hotel room now to put my feet up and read for a bit before heading back out for this evening's festivities. I can hear the bands practising their sound checks from my balcony. Am having a glass of the "Rabbit Ranch" pinot noir that I bought yesterday -- it is very nice, goes well with the feta and garlic potato chips on which I munch.

When next we "speak" it will be a new year for me (and hopefully a good one).

To end here's the statue of Robbie Burns with some Otago wildlife in place...