Stillpoint Yoga, Upper Moutere

Arrived yesterday. Flew into Nelson where I was picked up by Tony, the shuttle driver who does transport for the yoga place. Weather absolutely gorgeous -- hot and sunny. About a 40 minute drive to Upper Moutere -- lots of farmland (sheep, of course, and horses) and wineries. Stopped at the village store so I could pick up some food as it is self-catering at Stillpoint Yoga. Arrived and settled into my room. I thought I would be sharing a bathroom but I have a room with a double bed and a large en-suite bathroom -- very comfortable. I sat in the sunshine and part-shade reading the rest of the afternoon. There was no yoga to do yesterday so just pure relaxation.

Met the other people here for the retreat. Kay from Australia, Hadie from Tasmania, Mayo from Tokyo, Bevan a New Zealander who plays cup rugby in Germany and Andrea from Germany. Lucy and John spent the day working on the landscaping on the property while we all settled in.

Here is my room from the outside...


Here's the building that houses the kitchen and lounge area as well as the yoga room...


Decorative doors to yoga room...


A view over the property with a pohutukawa tree in the foreground -- otherwise known as the New Zealand christmas tree...



This morning was up around 6:30 to shower and have some yogurt, oats and honey before yoga started at 8:15. The yoga class was great. John did an introductory talk basically, to simplify it, about finding balance and utilizing action and desire rather than strategies in order to move forward. I am, of course, not explaining that well but that's what I got out of it. We then started the pratice mysore-style, each working through the series at our own pace. There are only six of us in the class and with two teachers, John and Lucy, the attention is very good and the class was filled with so much insight and personal assistance. I was nervous going in and it's hard mentally to try to work on poses and not get caught up in feeling like you have been doing the poses wrong. I got a lot of inspiration from the class and am looking forward to tomorrow morning. My favourite part was when I was doing 'Prasarita Padottanasana A' (wide-legged forward bend with hands on the floor) and John said "Head on the floor as well, Janine". I laughed and said "Maybe one day!" and he said "No, today!" Sure enough, he got me to bend my knees a bit and he stood by to balance me so I wouldn't tip over or fall on my head and break my neck and for a moment I got my head down. Just to know what the full pose is supposed to feel like was a real buzz. Anyway, I left the class feeling like there was limitless potential. And as that was part of John's introductory talk I feel like I caught on to a moment.

After yoga I made some toast with Nutella (someone had left a jar behind and I can't let that go to waste) and a cup of tea and relaxed for a bit. Kay has a rental car so she, Hadie, Mayo and I drove into Mouteka, stopping at a nice little organic fruit and veg shop called "Toad Hall". Mouteka is a nice little bustling summer town. Picked up some more groceries there for the week and walked around a bit. The yoga place is not far from the water but is a bit inland and up in the hills. Kay drove along the coast and we stopped at Ruby Bay and walked in the water and collected rocks and shells for a bit.



Kay and Hadie have been here already for a week and Kay has been here before a few times for teacher training with John and Lucy so she knows the area quite well. We had to stop at the car rental place (which is just a farm that does bed and breakfast and rents a few cars and campervans) as the renters wanted to exchange it for another one as they needed the car back as it had a hitch on the back and they needed to haul some sheep (only in New Zealand!). It was a nice afternoon. Came back and read for a bit and then made some spaghetti with pesto for my dinner.

I have no cat pictures today. I did have a little cuddle with Raf, one of the three cats here, but didn't have my camera with me. Mayo said that Raf slept in her room with her last night so I have my door open now just in case! John said the cats don't get along together and they are looking for a lap to curl up in. There is also a very nice black lab here (of course, I don't think there are any black labs that aren't nice, are there?) named Buzz. He likes a really good pet and a good stomach rub.

I also have no wine tastings to report on as I had a wine-free yogic day. Yesterday afternoon I did have a couple glasses of a "savvie" from Orinoco Vineyards. I bought it at the village store yesterday as it was a local wine and today on our drive we passed the vineyard just up the road! It was quite nice and the remainder of the bottle is chilling in the fridge. Perhaps I will allow myself a glass tomorrow.

Now I must post this and sign off. I have homework to do tonight. I have to draw stick figures showing all the vinyasas in Suryanamaskara A and Suryanamaskara B. I also want to try to learn the opening and closing ashtanga chants.

Until next time...

Okay, one last post in my "I love Dunedin" series...

When I was planning my trip and reading accommodation and restaurant reviews on the web I came across a lot of reviews for Paasha Turkish Cafe for the best kebab, doner and falafel in Dunedin. I decided to go there for my dinner tonight. They have a thriving take-out business but they have a small restaurant section and I ate in. I had the Lamb Kofta Shish plate and it was delicious. Two beautifully seasoned and grilled lamb koftas with rice, tabbouleh and (strangely) a small bit of penne pasta salad. Ignoring the pasta salad as it didn't fit, the tabbouleh was fantastic with lots of parsley and finely grated red and white cabbage and celery. The plate came with fresh grilled Turkish bread and yogurt-mint sauce, chili sauce and a beautiful thick hummous. (Val G. - I apologize as I was so concentrating on the food that I can't even remember which sauvignon blanc I sampled.) It was one of the those simple delicious meals that you just don't want to end. But, alas, it did and I paid my bill and headed back to the hotel.

I was greeted upon my return by both of the resident pets which I consider to be an honoured end to my stay. Baron was in his best "I would kill you and rip your throat out if I wasn't so comfortable lying here on the front hall carpet thumping my tail" pose. And there's Molly in the background with the green headlights...

Here's Molly up close in all her loveliness. She apparently tolerates Rod while worshipping his wife Shelley...


And now to packing. Oh, I have to cook for myself for my time at the yoga retreat so I have no idea what I will write about. They do have two cats and a dog there though.

Last day in Dundin

Just had a late afternoon downpour although it started out beautifully this morning.

After breakfast I went to the Otago farmers market which is a nice community market. Although I had just eaten breakfast I couldn't help eating a lamb kebab grilled with honey -- they smelled so good and tasted just as yummy. There was a young chap selling homemade sauces and spice mixtures and I bought myself a jar of, you guessed it, dukkah.

After the market I walked some more of the streets of Dunedin and then had lunch in the Lemon Room cafe on the Octagon. Chicken burrito with a glass of Allan Scott riesling from Marlborough region.

After lunch I walked up to Olveston, a historic Edwardian house. Built between 1904 and 1906 it was lived in by Dorothy Theomin, the daughter of the family who built it, until her death in the 1960s. She bequeathed the house and furnishings to the city of Dunedin when she died. It's a gorgeous house filled with art, items collected from the family's extensive travels and original features. Beautifully restored.

When I was at the farmers market a row of vintage Jaguars drove by and I thought there must have been a vintage car meeting somewhere but when I got to Olveston I found them all in the parking lot. A group from the cruise ship in the harbour had hired them for the day to be chauffered around -- certainly beats a minibus!


I was sitting in the garden enjoying the sunshine, waiting for 2:45 when my tour would start, thinking to myself that this would be a nice place for a cat to live. And, lo and behold, who should appear but "Millie", the house cat.

Walked around the streets around Olveston looking at the lovely houses in the area on my way back to the hotel. Found another giraffe...

When I got back to the hotel I had a glass of wine in the lounge with Rod and Shelley, the owners, and Baron, the dog, and Molly, the cat. Just in my room now relaxing a bit before heading out for dinner. The rain has started again so hopefully that will stop. If not I will just stay in.

Must pack tonight as am being picked up by the airport shuttle at 8:15 in the morning to fly to Christchurch and then connect to Nelson. The weather around Nelson is supposed to be the best statistically in the country -- with the most hours of sunshine. I have to say that I am getting more than a little nervous about my two weeks of yoga with John Scott! If you don't "hear" from me for a bit it is just that I am without wireless access. Stillpoint Yoga is in the countryside and their wireless access apparently can be intermittent.

Bye for now. Be sure to add Dunedin to your list of places to visit. My favourite things: the whole darn town, the Dunedin Public Art gallery, dukkah-crusted poached eggs at Nova cafe and penguin watching.

My love affair with Dunedin continues...

I really like this city. I know I could see a lot more of this country if I kept on the move every day or two but I like staying somewhere for awhile and getting a good look around and a feel for the place. Naturally it isn't a good thing if you are somewhere awful but it's a joy in a place like this.

This morning I walked for about an hour to Baldwin Street -- world's steepest street.

It doesn't look steep in this photo at all. In fact it looks flat! But it is steep. I should have a photo from the top looking down but, I admit it, I only got about one-third of the way up!

Then I walked the hour back into town stopping in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens which were gorgeous to look around. (Sorry Christchurch but Dunedin blows you away.)

On my walk I admired a lot of the houses -- big Victorians up on the hills or small little rose-coloured cottages. (Also reviewed a number of the postings in the local real estate shops!)





I also spotted two more of the painted giraffes on my walk...



I went back to the hotel to pick up my backpack, fleece and rain jacket and put on walking shoes instead of sandals so I would be ready for my Otage Peninsula Wildlife tour later in the afternoon.

After all that walking I was hungry and found a table outdoors at Craft, one of the cafes on the Octagon. I ordered the dukkah-crusted whole grilled baby snapper with wild rice salad. It was fantastic. Went lovely with glass of Brancott "Rail Bridge" sauvignon blanc. I am going to have to whip up some of this dukkah spice mixture when I get home. And I know you will all remind me to do this.

The day had been lovely and sunny with some whispy clouds. Around 3 o'clock while I was finishing my wine and talking to Derek on my cellphone the clouds rolled in and the wind started to gust. By the time I got in the minivan at 3:30 for the wildlife tour it was pouring rain. So much for the lovely day. It was over an hour drive to the beach where we would watch the penguins. The rain had tapered off a bit but it was still windy. We walked about 20 minutes to the beach. I was toasty warm in my fleece and rain jacket but some people were still in shorts and looking a bit miserable. When we got to the beach there were some penguins coming in from their day at sea.

These are yellow-eyed penguins, the world's rarest penguin breed. After spending the day at sea they come in to the beach and dry off and greet each other before climbling up the grassy hills back to their nests. (We couldn't go up to their nests, of course, but they had video cameras positioned by the nests so we could watch the babies on a video screen at one of the observation points.)





And since the penguins are in New Zealand they sometimes have to pass sheep on their way back up the hill...


After the penguins we went for a further walk up and over another hill to watch the seals on the rocks. The rain was really coming down again by this point and the wind was really something. Getting back up the wet hill was a real struggle. It was nice to get back into the minivan to dry off a bit. We drove along the coast to the albatross colony. Here the wind came in handy as the albatrosses need it in order to get airborne due to their massive wingspan. They were pretty impressive as they glided overhead.

Getting back into Dunedin I walked up the hill (leg muscles burning by this time) to my hotel and got back just in time before it started to pour again. Since I had a late lunch I am not bothered about going back out for dinner. So have poured myself a glass of Otago region Chard Farm "River Run" pinot noir and am writing this while sipping at that and watching "About a Boy" on tv. I will probably be fast asleep shortly as it has been a long day on my feet. But I feel wonderful and refreshed from the exercise, the fresh air and watching the wonderful penguins.

Dunedin to Pukerangi: a trip on the Taieri Gorge Railway

There was a bit of rain this morning but it cleared up by the time I finished breakfast and voyaged out around 10:30.

I went to the Otago Settlers Museum which is a social history museum of the area. It was very interesting. Well laid out and informative with great exhibits. Dunedin certainly has quality museums. There was one exhibit about the Scottish settlers and their long sea voyage that I particularly enjoyed. They had some diary excerpts of some of the settlers (much like my blog filled with info about the weather, the ships's cats and which sauvignon blanc was served with lunch -- well, maybe not the last bit). Imagine such a long journey knowing you would never return or likely ever see people again. How completely different things are now as we can move around the world and keep in touch constantly. But, also, how exciting it must have been to some who were looking for a better life.

Then I popped back up to the Octagon to the Nova cafe (only a few places were open today). The owner of the hotel recommended the cafe -- in fact, he said since I should go there a few times while in Dunedin. I had the African Eggs (dukkah-crusted poached eggs with asparagus and hollandaise sauce on toast). Dukkah is an Egyptian spice blend with nuts. It was delicious and went very well with a glass of "Astrolabe" sauvignon blanc (attention Val G. -- very nice with eggs!!).

Then I was off to the railway station to board the 2:30 train through the Taieri Gorge. Many people take the train in order to meet up with the bus to Queenstown or to Middlemarch in order to cycle or hike the Otago Rail Trail (something I would love to come back to do some day). But you can take it as a four-hour return trip which is what I did.

The railcars are vintage cars and I was lucky to be one of the old Victorian cars with tin ceilings and wooden interiors. The landscape is quite nice (once you leave the suburbs of Dunedin you only see a few houses and lots of sheep). The train stops in a few places so you can take photos and there are some pretty spectacular viaducts that you cross.



I liked this statue at one of the stops that was dedicated to all the sheepdogs that have worked the hills over the years...


(Had a nice chat on the train with a lawyer from Wellington who had been to the Rita Angus exhibit at the art gallery as well. She knew quite a bit about the artist.)

The train got back to Dunedin around 6:30. I stopped for some sushi for dinner and am now back at the hotel for a quiet evening. It doesn't really get dark till going on 10 pm so it is nice to still have some hours of sunlight.

Tomorrow I will be off in search of sea lions and, very exciting, penguins. Hopefully the rain holds off.

A couple of curiosities...

When I am travelling I always like finding random street art. This little giraffe I have found painted on posts in a few places in the city so far...


And if you thought the "golliwog" doll was a thing of the past it seems to be having a comeback in NZ as "Liq'rish Kidz"!

Happy new year!