there is nothing like walking when you need to clear your mind.
i left portobello (the town out there) and walked out to the pyramids, oh so cleverly named "small" and "big"
there was a little walking track complete with guide down to victory beach from the pyramids, so i wandered down there. along the way was this great formation in the rocks, that the guide explained, but of course i don't remember. still, pretty cool looking.
and then past papanui inlet, hooper inlet, and up sandymount where i saw the "lover's leap"
sandymount is on the southern side of the peninsula and is above the rest of the peninsula, allowing for great views. you can actually see where i walked in this photo - i started on the other side of the peninsula, but then walked out to that cliff you can see just above the closer hill on the right and then on the inside of all those inlets and then up to sandymount.
the peninsula isn't very big, but it really does take a long time to walk all that way. i think i walked something around 20 km that day. i also walked right up to larnach castle, the only castle on the south island (or something like that) and managed to get this picture. you have to pay to see the gardens and they stop you when you drive it, but as i was walking, i just went right past the little booth. and so when i actually got to the castle, there was a security guard there waiting for me to tell me i needed to go away, or pay the $10 just to see the gardens and $20 for the castle. i told him i just wanted to get a picture, and then i'd leave. he said that his back had to be turned, otherwise he'd lose his job ... but i did get my picture:
pretty cool looking, even if they do charge an outrageous amount of money to see it.
i also got a great view of dunedin and the otago harbor on the way back down to the bus stop on the main road:
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the next friday (28 april), i went to a rugby game. it was really something i had to do while i was here - you can't come to new zealand and not see a rugby game. i went with my friends gareth and neil, after basically begging them. it was rainy and cold and the highlanders (otago's team) aren't very good. but they had promised they'd come, and so yes, i guilt tripped them into going with me.
we went over to gardies, a pub, to catch a ride over to the stadium. the pubs give you a speights/highlanders cape to wear to the game (which i loved) and usually they give you discounted tickets too, but they were all gone by the time we got there, so no discount (oh well).
the stadium is absolutely tiny compared to any college or pro football stadium, and was basically empty because of the rain, which didn't do much for the atmosphere. yes, the student standing section was fairly full, but nothing like a bc football game. and they don't play music or anything during the game, so it's ... rather quiet. very strange.
anyways, the game starts with this guy coming out onto the field and singing the otago highlanders song, followed by this guy:
(the mascot, i guess) doing his highlander threatening dance thing. probably the best part of the entire match - definitely hysterical.
the game was alright. i was proud of myself for at least sort of understanding what was going on (i know what a scrum is! hooray!) it was definitely something i needed to do while i was here in new zealand, but i don't think i'll be going to another rugby game unless it's the all blacks or something.
[a scrum!]
[gareth, neil, and i]
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