Day Trip Part II: Dunedin

Our original plan for our day-long road trip was to visit the Moeraki Boulders (see previous post). But as we started driving Saturday morning, we made really good time and were going to have to kill some extra hours while we waited for the tide to get low enough to see the boulders.

[Quick side bar: the speed limits in NZ towns are generally very low - usually 50-60 kmh. This is the equivalent of going between 30-35 mph. Luckily for us, we were driving through quite a bit of unpopulated countryside and got to travel at speeds closer to 70-75 mph.]

We quickly realized we needed something else to do. Dunedin is only about an hour past Moeraki so we decided to go all the way to Dunedin. It took about 4 hours to get there. Once there, we grabbed a little street map from a bookstore and started hunting for some of the places Brian remembered from his mission. It was so fun to see him excited about retracing his steps. It made for a great afternoon!

Baldwin Street

Our first stop was Baldwin Street. This is the steepest street in the world. The pictures just can't do it justice. You'll just have to take our word for it that it really is steep! We drove to the top in the car and on the way back, it felt like we were going straight down.

Can you see me?

Brian's first mission flat

Our second stop was checking out the area that Brian served in. The house in the picture below was where Brian lived when he first arrived in NZ on his mission! (He lived in an apartment inside that huge house behind him.) Props to Brian for remembering where it was. I was impressed. 

Jacobs Ladder

Just around the corner from Brian's first flat, Brian showed me Jacobs Ladder. Yes, you read that correctly, it's the real Jacobs Ladder!  We climbed up it a ways, but being out of shape we gave up before reaching the top. From where I am standing on the stairway (scroll down a few pics) there were still a few more flights like the one that separated me and Brian. My legs were burning!!!

Dunedin meeting house

We also made a stop at the church Brian attending while serving in Dunedin. It was a welcome sight to see the building still standing! The meeting house Brian attended in Christchurch during his mission was damaged beyond repair in the earthquakes and has since been demolished. He was very happy to see this one looking so great.

Goodbye Dunedin!

As we left Dunedin behind, we were again mesmerized by the beautiful scenery that can be found on the South island. The picture below was particularly interesting because of the fog sitting in one of the valleys below. It gets so thick that you can't see anything else, yet the valley right next to it had no fog at all! Not a bad pic for taking it while driving 70 mph...