Hiking Dunedin

Shortly after I moved out of 229E Highgate, my friend Nikky came down to Dunedin to visit.  We decided to do a few hikes around Dunedin and one afternoon we packed a couple sandwiches and drove Hedwig up to Signal Hill.  There was a short hike there through some sheep and cow pastures.  Nikky had just watched Black Sheep, a kiwi horror cult classic about zombie sheep that kill people, and she was rather nervous walking through the sheep pastures.  Fortunately for me, it was easy to allay that fear since the sheep ran away from us as soon as they noticed us walking in their direction.  We stopped for lunch on a wee hill with a lovely view of the harbor and then walked back to the car since it started to rain: an easy hike for day 1. However, we decided to visit Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world, because Nikky hadn't been there yet.

me at the top of the world (kinda) - Nikky and I making friends with the local cat - a real sense of how steep baldwin is!

The next day we decided to up the ante and went for a hike up Mount Cargill.  After a drive up a questionable road, we finally found the entrance to Bethunes Gully, the starting point of our hike.  It reminded me a bit of the entrance to Pan's Labyrinth...however, despite my brief fear of meeting an over-sized talking faun, we parked and started hiking. 

It was early in the morning (for me anyway...like, 10am) so there wasn't anyone else on the path with us - which was great!  So we chatted the whole way up, and stopped at our leisure to take pictures.  I'm sure the actual hike doesn't take more than 2 hours, but it did for us because we like to take pictures... lots of them.  I found some pretty spectacular mushrooms at the beginning of the hike.  And the trees were really pretty and reminded me (as so much of New Zealand does, go figure) of the Lord of the Rings.

At the top we took photos of  the gorgeous view, and then had some lunch. Fortunately for us we took pictures first because the clouds literally enveloped us and all we could see was each other and the rocks and bushes we were sitting amongst.  I love that the clouds are SO close and stunning.

the views from the top - the cloud moving closer - and our view from within the cloud :)

the scree field

On our way back down, we decided to detour to the organ pipes.  It was a 30 minute side-trip to the neighboring hill and the whole time were walking under a canopy of trees and branches that curved over our heads as though landscaped that way.  When we got there, we were joined by several older hikers (some definitely over 70, I was thoroughly impressed) who had been there several years earlier.  Apparently there were more upright organ pipes but due to recent earthquakes and age in general, many of the pipes had fallen and created a scree field.  There were some that were still upright further up.  Nikky and I took a brief respite at the top of the scree field and then tried to get closer to the still standing organ pipes, but that just ended with some precariously balanced picture taking. :(  Stay tuned for pictures of the Milford Track - our next hiking adventure!

a close up organ pipe - the view - me - the upright organ pipes - Nikky!

Uni Stuff: Orientation and Capping Show - and no, I'm not a student

My sister works (worked :( she's gone now!) for OUSA - the Otago University Student Association, which is in charge of planning orientation every year.  It's a week full of comedians, concerts, and parties for all the new students.  Seeing as I'm not a student and didn't want to pay full price (or at all) for any of the events, I happily volunteered to sell tickets to the events.  Having a sister at OUSA is a good deal. 

The first event I sold tickets for was a night of comedians.  There were 4 different comedians and they did 3 shows.  The first one was early and half full, but the next two shows were packed and the students more inebriated and the comics just played off the energy so needless to say, the shows got more interesting despite the fact that the shows were almost verbatim.

Amidst all the ticket selling fervor, I made a new friend - one of the Beck boys, Mikey.  The Becks are friends of V's and there are 7 Beck boys, I've now met 3 of them.  Mike and I sold tickets together each night and when it wasn't busy, we had nothing to do but chat and be amused by the intoxicated students running amok. 

The second evening I worked, we sold tickets for the hypnotist.  I can't say I really believe what's happening there and I feel like everyone's putting on an act.  Regardless, the hypnotist was a comedian himself and the students who were "hypnotized" were really funny.  In the final show (yes, I went to all 3, and a good thing too!) the hypnotized students were the best.  The hypnotist programmed them to do a particular thing when a certain song played.  When marching music was played, they all marched around the auditorium like the best soldiers you've ever seen.  When a phone started ringing, everyone looked for the phone in someone's shoe.  And the best part was Elvis' "love me tender", when that played the hypnotized students had to look deeply into the eyes of whoever was closest and profess their undying love.  In the final show, two of the hypnotized students ran into each other during "love me tender" and they just started kissing each other - passionately.  It was a little awkward to watch but realllllly funny.  Shocking too.  So, I don't really believe in hypnotists, but I can't believe that two randoms would make out in front of 500 people they don't know unless something else was going in their minds... so maybe hypnotists are real?

The nights of concerts were pretty sweet.  Kids of 88 played one night (apparently a popular Kiwi band).  I got to hear the last few songs they played - didn't recognize any of them.  The band looked like mis-placed hipsters and there were some sound issues, but some of the songs were kinda catchy!  For the BIG concert night, Laura got DJ Rekha, of Basement Bhangra, to come down from Brooklyn and play.  She chilled with Mike and Todd and I in the OUSA office and we chatted about Brooklyn and Queens and had dinner together.  She's awesome, her music is GREAT and I totally felt like the cool kid at school who gets to hang with the band before the show.  So cool.  Ladi6 and Minuit were the headliners (I didn't hang out with them :( ) but I thoroughly enjoyed Ladi6.  Everyone was super keen on Minuit (apparently a HUGE kiwi fave) but I have to say, on first impressions, I liked Ladi6 better - but Minuit was still great!

So, fast forward MONTHS (cuz I'm a blogging slacker) and we get to graduation time and Capping Show.  Every year in May the students put on a comedy show (very similar to Senior Production to all my high school peeps) and this year's show was "Let There Be Capping Show", a not-so-subtle allusion to the Bible and "Let There Be Light".  The whole show was a farse involving God, Adam and Eve and Satan (or Santa as it turns out).   There were lots of cute wee skits, commercials included, but the best part was the acapella interludes.  There was an all male group and an all female group.  The men were better (sorry ladies!), their harmonies and performance were amazing.  Most of the songs were popular tunes with re-worked and rather lewd lyrics - but really really funny.  Here's the only one I could find on youtube:  Otago Uni Sextet - I Have Got Tourettes (note: this link definitely includes explicit lyrics!)

The second best part was the men's ballet.  One of the colleges (dorms in American speak) got all their first year boys to perform Swan Lake - and it was aaaaaa-mazing. Fortunately, someone taped it and posted it to youtube: Selwyn Ballet. Genius, truly. 

So, Laura, Todd, Vanessa and my not-quite-so-new-now-best-friend Matt Tucker and I went on opening night, and we confirmed that Laura and I have the same sense of humor since we were always laughing at the same time - and sometimes the only ones laughing...but that's normal, right?  Anyways, it was all good times at Otago University.  Sadly, Laura is now gone but Vanessa, Kitty  and Matt Tucker are still there so hopefully my hookups to fun things at the Uni aren't yet over!

Moving Up and Out - literally

my new residence

my street - hence the necessity
for a good handbrake

After I worked at No. 7 for a couple weeks, I had amassed enough money (and enough of an idea how much I would continue to earn) to move into M’s house.  M lives up the hill from V, so I really did move UP, and not just up a little ways either.  Shetland Street is STEEP.  When I first moved I was mostly nervous about parking my car on the street and having the brake let go and seeing/hearing my car careen down the hill hitting numerous cars in its path.  That hasn’t happened yet so I’m feeling a lot more confident about my hand brake, but I still try to park facing downhill with my wheels into the curb…just in case :)

luna loving me shortly after moving in

M is awesome.  We’re both night-owls and are constantly amused by the crazy cat she has: Luna.  Luna is funny looking but I still think she’s quite cute.  When I first moved in, I tried to keep her out of my room as I’m technically allergic to cats and sleeping amidst cat hair is not a good environment for me.  She would (and still does) sneak in because now my room is “forbidden territory” and therefore intriguing.  Although intriguing, apparently I’m also scary because as soon as she sees me she bolts.  However, I've lived with Luna long enough that she no longer makes me sneeze.

lune in bed with me

When M is at work, however, I’m Luna’s new best friend.  My theory is I’m the warmest thing in the house and therefore perfect for napping on.  Regardless of what I’m doing, using a laptop not excluded, she will push her way on to my lap and get comfortable - typing or knitting thereafter be darned.  When I’m brushing my teeth, she’ll jump onto the countertop and climb up my stomach and shirt and situate herself horribly awkwardly on my shoulders because not touching her for more than 3 minutes is unacceptable.  M calls this “smooch-y”.  I’m not exactly sure what that word means, but it seems to describe Luna quite perfectly.  She gets smooch-y a lot.  Just try to video skype me and you’ll see what I mean.

luna looking for attention while
i brush my teeth

Luna is also quite traitorous.  She’ll be insistently smooch-y all day when M is away, but as soon as the key is in the door, Luna is off my lap and waiting impatiently for M to pick her up and love her while adamantly refusing to admit there’s another person in the house she was just canoodling with.  While M is home, Luna will fully ignore me, but she’ll be back on my lap 30 minutes after M has gone to bed.  However, over the past few months, Luna has decided that it’s ok to visit with me even when M is home.  I’ve never met a cat who requires this much attention.

So, living on my own (more or less) again is lovely.  I have a big girl bed again and drawers!  I’m no longer living out of a bag!  I can also close the door on my mess and no one but me can complain about it.  I’m feeling quite settled and at home now.  I have a car, a home and a job - and people besides me sister to hang out with.  I think we’re ALL quite happy with this arrangement :)

Waiting (as in tables)

  A thousand apologies for not keeping completely up to date on all the “goings on” down here, but I’ve been busy working!  It’s been lovely to have something to do with my time AND to be having money coming in instead of going out.  I’ve now been working at No. 7 Balmac for about 2 months and I’ve made lots of observations and have some fun things to relate about my experiences in the restaurant world.

  I’ve been working with Shaz, Vanessa’s good friend who has since morphed into our (Laura, Todd’s and my) good friend as well.  She has been teaching me the finer techniques of making coffee, a la NOT the Starbucks way, and my skills are getting better.  I’ve almost mastered the coffee-art fern (almost being the operative word).  When I want to celebrate my “not-ugly” coffees I want to do my “happy“ dance, but Shaz has told me I’m banned from doing my happy dance as she thinks it scares the customers.  Personally, I think it just scares her though for the life of me I can’t figure out why…and it’s not even my REALLY happy dance.  I’ve pre-warned her that she will not like my friend Kadawe’s happy dance as mine is a mere variation of hers.  Shaz is now wary of meeting Kadawe when she arrives for the Rugby world cup…but I digress.

  Since the vast majority of the wait staff at No. 7 is attending University, I’ve been called on numerous times to cover people’s shifts or to swap with some people as class and school work impede their ability to work their set schedules.  Seeing as I’ve been in rather desperate need of money post-Christmas, I’ve been readily available and have fast become the “go to” girl.  I’m ok with this and my bank account is most thrilled about it.  The greatest consequence of my working lots is the fact that I’ve been able to afford flatting (aka moving out of “little America” and into a house with a roommate).  It’s lovely, but I’ll get to that fun story in a later post.

  I’ve been doing a lot of waiting tables at No. 7.  More waiting than barista-ing and I’ve become the topic of many conversations with customers.  Most want to know where I’m from and I vacillate between telling some I’m from New York and some I’m from Maine.  It’s shocking to me that of all the people I’ve told I’m from Maine, most reply with, “Oh!  What part?”  Considering I met people from California who weren’t sure where Maine was, I’m blown away that people in New Zealand not only know where Maine is but have visited it or have friends who went to school there.  Crazy small world.  I also tend to be the subject of table wide bets.  Most bets are trying to determine if I’m from San Francisco or New York.  Sadly, I have yet to find a table to buy me a drink or dinner for helping them win the bet.  I’ve more recently started to get “what’s your ethnic background,” but these are from the regulars who have figured out where I’m from and now want to know more.

  Speaking of regulars, people here LOVE their coffees.  I’ve definitely been recognizing people and am slowly remembering people’s “usual” drinks.  It’s easy when they come in every day and I’d have to be dumb as a stump to not learn the people’s coffees who come in 2-3 times in a day.  Scary, but true… and there’s not just one either.  The restaurant draws an impressive array of people.  There are the young married couples with children (the greatest form of birth control ever - some weekends make me never EVER want to have children), the go-go-go professionals and the retired people who come in to read the paper or do sudoku.  Some just come in and camp out for half the day ordering morning coffee, brunch and then, after meeting a friend or two, afternoon coffee and a sweet treat.

  There’s day and night service.  Day involves everyone’s morning coffees and “take-away” coffees as well as brunch until 3pm.  Lunch is usually hectic and can be absolute bedlam on the weekends.  The restaurant has an upstairs with 16 tables and a couple bar areas, a downstairs with another 6 tables, and a courtyard with 8 tables.  The kitchen is downstairs so regardless how busy it is, everyone gets a workout, and during the sunny days when everyone wants to be outside in the courtyard but is ordering coffees climbing those stairs again and again can be murder on your thighs.  The dinner service is slower (in theory) as people linger longer over appetizers (called entrees here - mucks me up all the time when I think entrees are the main meal, but no, main meals are mains.  I suppose that makes sense but the entrée thing screws me up).  I think I prefer days as the turnover is so quick and the time goes by so quickly.  But dinner service is nice cuz you get time to chat up your tables and despite the fact that this is a non-tipping country, if you get the right mix of people at your table and don’t screw up their orders, they will sometimes tip.

  Groups tend to tip the most, but mainly if one person is paying.  If everyone pays for their own meal you’re probably screwed tip-wise.  I’ve been lucky enough to serve a couple large groups and got the biggest tip anyone has ever gotten (to date that is).  A local couple held a party for the wife’s 60th birthday and they invited 21 of their friends.  I looked after them all night and at the end they left me a $200 tip.  Good deal on a $1700 bill.  Not as great a deal is it probably would have been in the States, but no complaints here!  Just recently I served a group of Australians on a golfing tour - $98 tip.  Gotta love the tourists!!

  Since I’ve been working essentially full time, they’re letting me Maitre’ D, or at least start training to do that.  (Look at me and all my new authority and I’ve only been there 2 months!)  According to Shane, one of the daytime cooks, that’s a long time for wait staff.  So they’re trusting me with keeping the restaurant running on the weekends and making sure everyone’s getting well served.  A wee bit stressful and busy busy busy, but nothing like worrying that light fixtures aren’t going to make it on site to be installed in time for market week without having to ask the client for an extra few thousand dollars to expedite production and shipping! (Sometimes I REALLY don’t miss the woes of architecture…sometimes)

  There are a few pet peeves that I’ve realized having worked so much at No. 7.  I hate when people choose to sit at the one table with cups and plates still on it.  Sometimes we get caught up at the register and behind the bar and people will vacate their table.  Before we get a chance to get out there and clear the table, someone new will sit at it and push the stuff away.  Really??  Like there aren’t 8 other tables you could sit at instead?  I mean seriously people, why choose the dirty table and then look at us like “how come this wasn’t cleaned?” Ugh.  So yeah, people sitting at dirty tables drives me batty.  But mostly, I’ve decided I hate the word “Ta”.  Kiwi’s tend to shorten many words, I.e. Breakfast = brekkie, Gossip = goss, Presents = prezies) and for some reason “Thank you” or “thanks” got shortened to “Ta”.  I don’t see how that works based on the previous examples, but I HATE the word “Ta”, not sure why.  No offense to people who use it, but personally I can’t stand it.  I was at a table with a toddler and the parents were trying to get him to say “Ta” because I’d brought over his drink.  It was all I could do to not yell "Don't!"  

  So aside from those two things, I love my work! and the fact that I get days in the middle of the week completely off so I can run errands while all the shops are open.  Lovely.  Totally a different speed from my architecture in NYC job.  However there are days when I miss running to meetings and drawing and being on site solving ductwork problems!