One of my flatmates invited me to go out to Tunnel Beach with her and a few other Americans. I had nothing planned for the day so I agreed.
The six of us met at a bus stop on George Street around 11AM. We caught the bus at 11:15 to Corstorphine Road. The last stop on Corstorphine Road was about a 20 minute drive. From there, we would have had to walk a mile or so down Middleton Road and then on to Blackhead Road to get to Tunnel Beach Road. However, the bus driver was nice enough to drive a little extra to drop us off near Tunnel Beach Road. It saved us quite a bit of time (although we still had to do a bit of walking).
The morning was fresh. We were just a little Southeast of Dunedin and it was beautiful. Lots of green hills with farm animals. I almost felt like I was walking through The Shire in the Lord of the Rings :].
I was with five other students. Even though they all knew each other well and they're in the same study abroad program, it was really fun. I was a bit worried that I might feel left out, but everyone was cool and we had a good time. It was sweet-as.
The walk down the trail to tunnel beach was spectacular. We walked along a steep, winding path right against a beautiful coastline defined by massive cliffs. There was the familiar smell of salt water in the air. It reminded me of home, and it felt nice.
We reached the bottom and had lunch on top of a ledge that jutted out from the coast and overlooked the beach.
After that, we went down through one of the tunnels to a little private beach area where we relaxed on the beach and lounged on some of the large rocks. We also played a little bit of frisbee. The water was way too cold for swimming. I wasn't really dressed properly anyway (I wore jeans and a blouse). We were there for pretty much the whole afternoon.
We left the beach at around 3 and started the hike back up the path (which was really difficult). At the top, it was still a long way until the bus stop. We did manage to meet the 3:40PM bus on time, though.
It was really nice to get out of my flat and meet some new people.
Last night was also the party for new international students. It was held at the Monkey Bar just a few blocks away from uni and our flat. The bar is actually an old church that's been converted into a bar/dance club. It was rather amusing. My flatmates and I hung out for a bit and talked with some other international students. I also tried some Speights ale, which is Dunedin's local famous brewed ale (it was pretty good). We stayed out late dancing. We went home after we had exhausted ourselves.
My feet have been miserable from blisters so I'm trying to take it easy on them (I'm sorry feet). I also think I might be coming down with a cold. My throat has been sore all day, but I'm crossing my fingers that it'll go away by tomorrow.
My papers [classes] begin on Monday and I'm excited to see how that goes. Mon and Wed from 11AM-1150am I have Literature and Gender. Wed from 12-1350 I have Irish Poetry. Tue and Thur from 10-1050 I have New Zealand Art History and then on those same days from 12-1250 I have Ukiyo-e Floating Art World of Japan, which I think I may delete and replace with something else. Apparently, that particular 300 level paper is a continuation of the 200 level paper, so I'm not sure why they allowed me to take it since I haven't fulfilled the prerequisite and I don't have much of an Art History background. Ah well, we'll see.
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