Somewhere Between The Moon and Montana Part II

Somewhere between the moon and Montana is Dunedin, New Zealand. Modern Dunedin was founded about 150 years ago on the cone of an huge ancient volcano that is hundreds of thousands, if not a million, years old. This town now overlooks a beautiful tranquil bay that was once filled with fiery lava from the center of the earth. The Maori established camps there as early as 1100. See Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunedin.

There are 90,000 human permanent residents, 30,000 students at the world famous Otago University, 900,000 sheep (sheep outnumber humans in New Zealand by 10 to 1), 5,000 black swans (introduced by the English for beauty then after they grew to huge numbers because there were no predators, had to be culled), about 20 pairs of the unbelievable soaring Northern Royal Albatross (whose young's 1st flight away from their birthplace in Dunedin consists of a running leap off a tall cliff and then they learn to soar before they hit the ocean and then circumnavigate the entire of Antarctica without ever coming home) and a few shy and stuggling for life yellow eyed penguins.

The Presbyterian Scots came to Dunedin because they sought religious freedom. Dunedin is a quaint and easy to navigate city off Highway 1 (the main north south highway on the east coast of the south island. Its quaint bucolic exterior however, masks an efficient economic engine. The bay formed by the volcano has two islands which guard the harbor and city from the sea. The government dredged this channel for cargo ships and then as ships grew in size, dredged it again. Every day mutton is packed onto these ships along with logs (NZ can grow pine faster than anywhere else in the world) and the ships go in and out.

Small home dot the craterwalls. The surrounding lands has become the same lush green found everywhere in the south island in the summer. It rains alot (as I found out) but the sunshine, when it arrives gives the color green many new brilliant shades of meaning.To understand the Scotch heritage, take for example, the oldest continously operated public library in New Zealand in Pukehiki, a suburb up on the high volcanic wall above the Otago Bay. This little building still loans out books. It is open, however, only one day a year. If you check out a book on that day, you must return one year hence and return it. The alternative, of course, is one heck of an overdue fine............ (Picture taken through the window. The library was NOT open on the 23rd of January.) Sphere: Related Content