Monday was supposed to be my first day at work…until I checked again and realized that the Hocken Library is closed on Mondays. Thus, we had Monday to explore a little bit of the Otago Peninsula. Dunedin looked quite a bit similar to Wellington when we moved along the harbour (minus the high-rises). Our first stop, for lunch, was a playground next to Macandrew beach. The kids enjoyed the play time (and the ice cream), before we continued to Te Rauone beach where we spent the afternoon and the night freedom camping.

On Tuesday, we had a brief look around Taiaroa Head but couldn’t visit the Royal Albatros Center as now I had to be at the Hocken Library at 10am. After this, I was mostly out for the rest of the week.

Flo: So while Nina slogged away at the Hocken, both kids and I got to explore and go on adventures. We started local, but non-the-less awesome at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum. I remembered it fondly, and the broad selection of exhibits and topics was a hit with the kids as well. That night we cowed from first real rain on our trip right at the heart of town. Dunedin’s Freedom camping policy is awesome.

Another (rainy) day, another museum. Tūhura Otago Museum, a “British Museum” style potpourri of different exhibits. Including the fantastic “Relics” touring exhibition of “Where’s Waldo”-style Lego dioramas built into “relics” of humanity. Plus, a butterfly greenhouse, for some reason. Great fun was had.

The big one came on Thursday – hopping on to the Taieri Gorge Railway on the first sunny day after the rain had passed. The kids were 100% on board (get it?) and had heaps to tell mom, who came to pick us up after coming back to town and because why not, we added a whole steet art walking tour in the afternoon.

On Wednesday and Friday we came back to our friends Celia and Tig’s place to give the kids more chances to hang out (plus ok, maybe some personal hygiene). It was amazing getting the time to hang out. A personal marker for the outstanding quality of people we call friends is how effortlessly we find into a rhythm even after years of not seeing them. One more huge shoutout to them and their amazing tamariki! Our kids will sure remember the time here.

After that full week, we had more of a low key day on Friday, exploring the Dunedin Botanical Garden, catching up on sleep and preparing for a shared evening meal with our friends. The kids were suprisingly engaged in the “plants selected for their fragrence” section.