Dunedin Public Art Gallery

I let time slip away so I am combining two outings in the one blog.  Both of which took place at the The Dunedin Public Art Gallery.  Now, I am not a big fan of the arts and to be honest, when I go into art galleries I don't know what to do.  A picture is a picture (to me), I am not the person who can sit and find the hidden meaning in the image or a block of concrete.  But I heard about two really cool exhibits on at the Dunedin Art Gallery and decided to check it out.   

The first exhibit was from a Korean artist Seung Yul Oh.  I can't go into the philosophy of this exhibit but I can tell you it was interactive and it was FUN (you can read about it here)!  I will post pictures about the 'meaning' of these exhibits but first I will just tell you what it was to our family.

The first room was dark, had flat screen TV's of rivers and then there was these HUGE boulders.  But they were big semi-deflated balls or bean bags.  We had a blast! Bodie would manage to climb to the top of one and Simon would jump onto the side and Bodie would fly off into the air and land on another one, where I would jump on it and he would fly off in another direction.  It was so much fun, so much laugher and even a work out!  The next room was filled up with these big huge cylindrical balloons.  And there were so many it was like a maze.  you went in and you got lost and really disorientated.  I think we spent an hour in the balloons playing hide-and-seek or chase or something.  So a super awesome and fun exhibit that took up a good 2-3 hours of our time! 

The next exhibit is called the cubic structural evolution project, which is basically a huge table with thousands of white legos (you can read about it here).  It is a hard thing to fathom really.  A huge table, thousands of lego and long bench seats with dozens of people using their imaginations and constructing some really cool things.  A lot of towers that had amazing patterns I never would have thought to create.  Bodie and I made a house with an indoor pool. :-)  We stayed there an hour, easy.  This exhibit is still on, so if you haven't already, check it out!

I have concluded that Art Gallery's aren't lame, in fact, the Dunedin Art Gallery is far from lame, it is an amazing place where a lot of learning takes place.

Rakiura (Stewart Island), the far mild south

Easter holiday in Dunedin was extra long this year.  We decided to cross a trip off of the bucket list and organised a trip to Stewart Island.  Stewart Island is an island located 30 km across the Foveaux Strait from Bluff (South Island).  The town of Oban is the only town and just under 400 people live on Stewart Island. 

The original Māori name, Te Punga o Te Waka a Maui, positions Stewart Island / Rakiura firmly at the heart of Māori mythology. Translated as The Anchor Stone of Maui’s Canoe, it refers to the part played by the island in the legend of Maui and his crew, who from their canoe, the South Island, caught and raised the great fish, the North Island.

We went over with my in-laws, rented a bach/crib for 6 nights and had a great time!  We were all expecting it to be freezing cold with Scottish drizzle... my were we surprised!  Now, we did have some drizzle, but it was no where near as cold and some days were actually hot! 

What is there to do you ask?  Well, there is seriously something for everyone!  We had a 4 year old in tow, so we did not do any of the big tramps (hikes).  But for those who love tramping and the great outdoors there are numerous trails that are anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 days long!  What we chose to do with a 4 year old is the following:

Saturday we went into town and it just so happened they had an Easter Fair on.  This consisted of a cake/bake sale, sausage sizzle and a huge easter egg dig.  $2 registration fee and at 11am the under 5s had a pit and the over 5s had a pit and the kids got to digging for these pink tags with number written on them.  When I kid found a number they turned it in and got a chocolate.  This was no easy task.  We dug for a good half an hour to an hour and found two tags.  They then announced that there was 8 left in each pit.  I think everyone gave up! 

One day we spent on Ulva Island.  These was a 5 minute ferry across Patterson Inlet.  Ulva island is a nature reserve (both land and sea).  For so long there were no predators in NZ, therefore, most of the native birds are either flightless and/or sleep/nest on the ground.  A lot of work has been undertaken to rid the island of predators such as possums and rats.  This allows the bird life to flourish!  There are many birds on this island that you can find no where else in NZ.  Now, the 'problem' with this island and a 4-year old is that you have to walk everywhere and you have to BE QUIET! Even though we did have a 4 year old pretty much incapable of being quiet, we saw a lot of birds and Bodie made friends with one of the rarest birds on the planet (a native NZ robin) and this robin followed him around. It was pretty cute. Not so cute convincing him to walk on...

We booked a fishing charter and went out fishing for a couple of hours. The sea is crystal clear down there, the fish are huge and there are a lot of them! Fishing is what people do for their livelihoods! We found a charter that allowed pre-schoolers (free) called Leask Bay Charters . They were awesome! They provided the fishing lines, baited your hook for you, took the fish off and fileted it for you to take home and eat! It was a beautiful sunny, flat sea day and we had a great day!

Other things we did were play board games, feed the kakas on our deck, fish off the wharfs (or feed the fish, I should say), play on the playground, go to the museum, roam through the bush around the house.... I could go on and on. But, it is a great little place and definitely worth the trip! To get there you have to make your way to Invercargill. Where you can either fly or take the ferry (from Bluff). Flights are 20 minutes, ferry is 1 hour.

 

 

 

Easter Egg Dig

 

Kaka on the porch eating from our hands!

 

A rare flightless native bird called a Weka.

 

Ulva Island, all tuckered out after 4 hours of walking!

 

 

 

 

All tuckered out after a big week and an early rise.

 

Slide, Ride and Stride

Bodie completed his first ever triathlon!  The Slide, Ride and Stride event is held in Dunedin each year.  It is for 2-6 year olds.  A 50 m dash, 150 m ride and then a water slide.  We got there early so that Bodie could see what he was supposed to do.  It was adorable seeing a whole bunch of 3 yr olds running through a field to get to their little plastic bikes.  I then laughed at the parents who worked WAY harder than the kids bending over to push the kids on their bikes for 150 m!

We briefed Bodie on what to do... run to the bikes and look for Dad, who will have your bike.  I went with him to the start line.  A man explained the rules and made the mistake of asking if there were any questions.  4 year olds like to talk... so after a few minutes of questions/statements from the kids the whistle blew and they were off!  Lots of parents were running with the kids, but I told Bodie I would see him when he was on his bike.  I was little concerned he'd stop running, b/c it was crowded.. but he was running!

The bike ride was a struggle b/c it was on wet grass.  But he persevered and didn't give up!  He zoomed down the soap covered water slide and ran through the finish line.  He was a very proud boy.

This event is awesome for promoting healthy lifestyles.  Being healthy starts young, so I was very happy to see such a cool event for toddlers.  And it was only a $2 entry fee!

 Before the race

 

Run, Bodie!

 

On the bike!

 

 

Finished!

 

 

Finished!

 

 

 

Getting his certificate!

Lark in the Park

One of my favourite things about Dunedin is that there is all kinds of free family friendly events happening.  But the best part is that due to the size of Dunedin, the events are not overly crowded.  This particular event, I can't give you much background on.  We were on our way home from our visit to Auckland and I saw a sign on the Botanical Gardens that said "Lark in the Park".  I googled it and couldn't find much out, but decided since it's our local playground to mosey on down and check it out.

I am really glad I did this.  It was an event sponsored by the Lions Club, this year they were raising money for heart disease (I think).  The entertainment was made up of everything from high school orchestra, some kids Irish dancing, a few singers and the cool thing was about an hour of interactive entertainment for the kids.  This included all the kids getting an instrument and playing it, getting a ribbon and twirling it and getting a fox mask and dancing around to 'What does the fox say", a parachute.  It was so awesome.

There was also this g-force ride, that looked like what astronauts ride in.  The age limit was 4 and luckly Bodie was four... He loved it!  The train that normally runs through the Botanical Gardens was running and they also got in a vintage fire truck that kids rode. 

The sun came out and this was a real fun day. 

Vintage Car Race

A few weeks back the 60th annual vintage car race was held in Dunedin.  This is basically when old cars from the early 1900s come together and race from the Octagon to Brighton Beach.  We went and had a look, and wow, it was so cool!  There were about 60 cars/trucks/vans and even motorcycles.  And the cool thing was that the majority of the car owners dressed up in the early 1900s clothes!  The cars and costumes coupled with the old vintage buildings in the Octagon I thought I was living in the early 1900s. 

Down at Brighton there is a big carnival at the finish line.  I'm talking, rides, games, stunt men, and stalls selling stuff.  All the cars also are lined up and put on display with their hoods up and what not. 

It was a very cool day and something I highly recommend!

Here is a link that tells you a bit more and photos/videos below.

Here is a video of the oldest car being crank started and the engine.  Sorry about the people, lots of interest.

 

 

 

St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool

If it's a warm day with the right wind direction (or no wind preferably) then taking the family to the St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool is a great (half) day out!  The Pool is located down at the infamous St Clair Beach.  The pool is actually built on the edge of the ocean and when it is high tide the pool is surrounded by the sea, crashing waves, surfers and all.

There are several awesome things about this pool.  The first is the price.  They have great rates for parents with toddlers on the weekends.  I think for the two adults and one child it was like $10 to swim.  And that wasn't a weekend.  Weekends I think it is like $3.50 for 1 adult and 1 child.  The next awesome thing is the free swim accessories they have.  There are floats, kick boards, flippers, goggles, snorkels etc.  Third, the pool is HEATED!  Fourth, there is a shallow bench on the side of the pool that parents can sit on or kids can play on if they don't want to get all the way in (and kids are old enough to be in the pool w/ out them.  Fifth, there is a café w/ yummy toasty sandwiches and hot chocolate.

The secret to living and enjoying outdoor time in Dunedin is to understand the effects of the wind direction.  So, if there is a southerly, DO NOT GO TO THIS POOL.  When we went it was a north easterly, the sun was shining and it was so warm/hot at our house we just craved some water to swim in.  We got to the pool got out of the car.... oh my, that was a cold wind (I obviously don't understand the weather patterns b/c why a southerly was coming off the ocean in a north easterly is beyond me).  Since Bodie was dying to go to the pool, we went anyways and to be honest, we froze.  I have NEVER liked kiddie pools, but I found myself just laying in that on my back trying to keep as much of me as I could under the warm water and out of the cold wind.  We finally got smart and set up camp next to the south wall.  Then, the wind was blocked, the sun shined... and the day was great!

This is a place that on a nice hot sunny day I can imagine would be a very fun-filled day with a lot of enjoyment.  I can't wait to go back!

 

 The wall where we found shelter from the wind.

 



This is what is on the other side of the wall in the picture above.

Allans Beach

One of my favorite things about Dunedin is the wildlife that lives right at the cities doorstep.  The Otago Peninsula is home to penguins, seals, sea lions and albatross.  There are also whales, dolphins and sharks!  I've always been a nature/wildlife lover and to just go walking along our local beach and come across sea lions sleeping in the sand and seals sunning themselves on the rocks is so very cool.

When we first visited Dunedin last year in September (2012), Simon's mom took us to a beach she had gone to with her film class called Allans Beach.  The beach has a nesting area for the yellow-eyed penguins, is dotted with sea lions and is located approximately half an hour outside of the city along the Otago Peninsula.

Driving out to the beach feels like you are driving out to no where.  You have to go along a narrow dirt road that straddles an estuary on both sides!  Eventually the road comes to an end under some big pine trees.  You then have to hop over a fence and walk through a paddock (pasture) till you reach the sandy trail that leads you to the beach.  As you follow the trail over the sand dunes keep your eyes peeled b/c sea lions are usually sleeping nearby.

Arriving at the end of the trail you see a kilometre long, white sand surf beach.  The color of the water is an amazing deep green to turquoise blue color.  And it is evidently one of the best surfing spots in NZ.  As you walk down the beach you will *normally* see sea lions basking in the sun.  Look closely b/c they blend in with the sand really well!  At the end of the beach is where the penguins live. 

When we visited this beach the first time we saw sea lions and it was amazing, but it was so freakin' cold.  The second time we went with our very good friends and first visitors from Auckland, we got the tide wrong and couldn't even get on the beach, so we saw no sea lions or penguins.  But we still had an awesome time!

So tips for visiting this beach is go at low tide and do not go during a Southerly or else you will be blown away and will freeze your tail off!  This is one place I cannot wait to visit during the peak of summer!  Bring it!

September 2012 - can you spot the sea lion?

 

September 2013

 

 

 Oh yea, and us adults got a night out w/ no kids, thanks to GiGi and Jedi!  We went to the Mexican restaurant Del Sol after kiddy hour!  Olay!