Let me see if I can give you a word picture of my first day in Dunedin. No, better yet, I’ll start with the travelling bit, then the word picture.

In what can only be described as typical fashion, my travel to NZ was not without its hiccups; this time my own fault. I was standing in the check-in line for my flight from Canberra to Sydney in good time for the first leg when I suddenly realised that I did not have my passport with me! You can imagine my upset at myself. The fortunate thing was that it occured in Canberra and not when I’d got to Sydney. Anyway, a quick cab ride back home and then to the airport again solved that problem and was completed in sufficient time to make the next flight from Canberra to Sydney which got me to Sydney (just) in time to make the connection to Christchurch. After that it was pretty plain sailing, although all the flights were full so it could hardly be described as comfortable.

By the time we flew in over Dunedin, it was nearly sunset, but even with the low light, you could see that the city is really picturesque. It nestles in a valley on the shores of a natural harbour and this gives it a really nice ‘secure’ feeling, and the houses on the valley sides must have spectacular views. (The cab ride in from the airport—nearly 30 mins—was done in the dark, so I missed that opportunity to see the views.)

Woke up in my own time in the morning (i.e. late) and after a quick breakfast headed off to the University to register for the conference. It was about a 15 minute walk, which was quite pleasant. I got an interesting surprise when I found the St David Theatre where the conference is located. All the pictures of the University of Otago show late nineteenth century stone structures—quite beautiful, all of them—but the theatre complex is brand new. It is actually quite an attractive building too (in contrast to some of the brutalist-style buildings I saw on the campus later), but certainly not what I was expecting to find. Registration was simple enough and, although there were some workshops on offer this morning, I decided to make a day of it in Dunedin. So, off I wandered into town.

The day was cool and clear; a really nice day for walking around. I headed into the centre of Dunedin (called the Octagon, for obvious reasons) and visited the information centre first. Then a first stop at a coffee shop/internet cafe called the Common Room. Both these stops were collecting information about what to do in Dunedin, and to see if I could get to Queenstown and back in a day (and do something in Queenstown). Turns out that Queenstown is off the agenda (disappointingly), but that there'll be plenty to do in Dunedin.

I decided to start my self-guided tour of Dunedin with one of the recommended Heritage Walks. It was a very pleasant stroll around with some really lovely late-nineteenth century architecture to visit and photograph. It also gave me a bit of a sense of Dunedin, which is not a huge city, although stretched out on the North-South axis because of the valley and the harbour. (Actually, Dunedin is the fifth largest city in the world, by land area, but, not unlike Canberra, you can’t see all of it at the same time.) There is a really pleasant feel to the place which appears to be carefully managing its heritage while still growing into a vibrant modern city. Lunch at a cafe in the Octagon completed the first part of the day.

Then I made arrangements and preparations for the rest of the stay. I booked myself on a nature/wildlife tour of the peninsula (the other side of the harbour) which promises to contain penguins, seals, sealions, and maybe an albatross or two. I also decided on the double-decker bus tour on Friday to pick up some of the other sights. The conference will involve a dinner at the Larnach Castle, a local stately home, and a visit to Olveston House, a tourist stop that shows the rich life of nineteenth century Dunedin residents.