We took the scenic route to Dunedin, following the southern coast through the Catlins. It’s crazy to stop and think that this may be the farthest south I ever go. We stopped at Curio Bay, basically by accident and thought that we had stumbled upon a penguin colony. They weren’t penguins… but we did see some wildlife including: birds that look an awful lot like penguins from far away, a seal that looked an awful lot like a dead dolphin from far away and the most ill-tempered seagull, whom we named Angry.

When we arrived in Dunedin we thought we should have a look at the campus of the University of Otago. After that, we thought we should enroll in the University of Otago. We ate a lovely pizza dinner in the town center, appropriately named The Octagon. We then happily accepted Grant and Shirley’s (Molly’s friends, by way of mutual friends) offer of accommodation. Thank you so much for your hospitality! Shirley brought us to the university library, a massive post-modern glass structure amid traditional Scottish buildings. I was mesmerized and wanted to sit in one of the study rooms and learn things.

The next morning we visited the World’s Steepest Street (Baldwin St), an out-to-lunch blue penguin colony and a town that can’t be seen from the road known as “Twizel: The Town of Trees” (whose motto could use some spicing up, may I suggest “Twizel’s Invizel Fo Shizel”. We camped along the banks of a beautiful blue lake with Mount Cook (yes again, it’s a narrow country) in the background.