Santa's In Jandals: The Holidays Way Down South
After months of relentless traveling around the South Island Meredith and I were feeling ready to call a bit of a travel hiatus over the holidays so we could really get into the swing of things down here in Dunedin. There's a lot to love about this little city clinging to the edge of the world that we couldn't appreciate being out on the road three or four days a week, plus Meredith needed some actual in town time to get a job sorted out. So, the past three weeks have likely been the most relaxing of our time down here...if also the least entertaining to blog about.
But let's start with the big news: Meredith got a job, at a castle no less! After a couple weeks of solid searching, Meredith got in as a tour guide at Larnach Castle, an 1800s manor out here on the Otago Peninsula.
The first thing to know here is that you should be seriously jealous of her commute. It's 15 minutes up the high road to one of the peaks of the peninsula. Whereas our typical route to town follows the shore the high road takes off from Portobello and turns straight up; what follows is 10k of narrow, twisting, diving pavement that criss-crosses the ridge of the peninsula. On any given drive you'll see waves cresting far out in the Southern Ocean, ships cruising up and down the harbor, low clouds spilling over the mountains to the north, and sheep (oh so many sheep) occupying some of Otago's most scenic hills.
I just got my first tour of the castle with Mere as my trusty guide, and let me tell you...it pushes the boundaries of the term "castle". A large estate built on a (then) excessively remote patch of the peninsula by a wealthy gold rush banker and politician, the building was dubbed "Larnach's Castle" by the press as it grew into an increasingly elaborate display of his wealth. It certainly is an impressive home in an insane location, but I'll go ahead and say it, putting crenelations on your roof does not make your house a castle. Nonetheless, the place has been lovingly restored, after being abandoned for the better part of a century, with great original pieces, interesting historical tidbits, and some truly awesome gardens. In all, mom you'd love this place.
As for Meredith, she's picked up duty as a tour guide walking guests through the house on hour-long jaunts filled with factoids about the estate, it's construction, and it's proprietor. After that, she'll serve them one of the various forms of tea the nuances of which I'm likely never to understand. In the summer this mainly means catering to the cruise ship crowd, and yeah that's a very big factor of Dunedin summers. Given our location on Otago Harbor Dunedin is a regular stop for New Zealand cruises as the port is one of the largest and most sheltered in the country. So, while we both have to do our best to run the tourist gauntlet a couple times a week, we do get to enjoy watching the ships cruise in and out of port across the harbor every day.
The holidays down south are a different breed. There's no need for extravagant light displays, kitschy decor or ritual festivities when you're living out the best and brightest days of the year. The complete change of holiday pace certainly has helped us beat the worst of holiday homesickness, plus we've made a pretty good showing of it in our own way.
It began with a Thanksgiving feast that defied all the ingredient availability odds, we put together a huge (and hugely creative) spread that fed us in true Turkey Day spirit for a full week and a half. Then, after a couple wrapped presents had made their way to the house our roommate, Gavin, decided we needed a tree to really get us in the holiday mood. So, he tromped up the hill behind our little farmhouse and cut down a likely New Zealand pine. All in, we had a pretty good showing on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, Meredith was on top tour duty at the castle Christmas Day as several cruise ships full of tourists came to town. No matter though, I was able to slip out for a hearty Christmas surf and build up a big appetite for the spread Gavin put together for us all. In the end, it was no match for a proper white Christmas at home but we still ate a ton, gave a few presents, and laughed the night away. Isn't that what the holidays are all about? ... Even if these crazy kiwi's think that Santa wears shorts.
After all that city shopping we did over the past couple months reality has set in over how we want to break up our time here in New Zealand, and in the end, a year really isn't all that long. A little time to hang out, make friends, ride, surf, eat, and yeah even do a little work has us feeling more engaged in the Dunedin life. It's a bit of an enlightening commentary on adult life that adding a little work to your working-holiday is actually the key to feeling more satisfied. So we've made the decision to not high-tail it out of here at the end of January and will be here at least a month longer...hopefully that extra time will see me actually learn how to catch a proper wave.
