So we have truly gone all out this time:) Devon has put together a video summery of NZ since I arrived...If anyone can believe it, that was nearly a month ago!!! Pictures and videos are worth a thousand words so here is a thousand words!!!
Video by Wallace:
Pictures by AB (because I could never do a video if I tried):
Alrighty, It's been a crazy hectic few weeks since the last update. I've had several opportunities to get out exploring more, I've also joined an Ultimate Frisbee team and work is progressing really well - I've been learning heaps.
So I hit a significant milestone the other day - little Devon got his first tooth! This tooth (shown from 6 angles) modelled, mapped, textured and rendered was done by yours truly. Since the milestone I've modeled several more teeth, each time getting faster and with less help from Stacy. This is the lastest tooth modelled, mapped, textured and rendered was done without any help from Stacy!
Saturday I decided to do some more exploring around Dunedin, I left my gear at home and set out with a rain jacket and no idea really where I was going to go.. I ended up crossing paths with Stacy and and he took me to Logan Park (equivalent to Shouldice Park back in YYC) where he was participating in a Tennis Tournament. After two or three sets I was off again, with my sights set on Baldwin Street. A few hours later I arrived at the steepest street in the the world.. I took a few photos and made my way up it.. Gotta say it was pretty impressive..
This last week Dunedin has been host to the Masters Games - a Summer Olympic-type set of games for people over the age of 30. Teams along with individuals from across ZN have made made their pilgrimage to Dunedin to participate in sports like soccer, 100m sprint, javelin, long jump, etc.. So the motels around where I live have been packed and some very unusual things have been happening. Last weekend both Saturday and Sunday mornings I have been jarred awake by ACDC playing on a loud speaker at an unreasonable time in the morning. I've put together a small video of the events that happened on Sunday morning. This video is best heard wearing headphones.
I joined an Ultimate Frisbee team that meets twice a week on Sundays and Tuesdays. So last Sunday was my first day out. Eight people showed up, I guess Dunedin doesn't have the following like Calgary does. So we got started, If you've never played Ultimate it's like 10 people running around a soccer pitch for 40 minutes.. It's very tiring, but since it was a pickup game there wasn't really any time limits or subs, so 2.5 hours later my body finally said nuts to this and I had to come up with an excuse to leave (early?).. It was a good thing I did, normally in Calgary after a night of frisbee I just limp back to the car and drive home, but here it felt like an eternity trying to limp back home with a long board in one hand and a heavy backpack in the other. I think it was Thursday before I could feel my legs again and could walk without a limp!
On Monday Stacy took me out to Sandfly Beach. It's an interesting beach for sure, as it's called that not because of sand flies but because the sand flys. It is an incredible sandy beach nestled between two very large hills, cliffs if you will. Hiking down from the parking lot was a ton of fun as it was a huge sand dune so we just ran straight down to the water. The beach was like 1000 meters long with water on one side and huge dunes on the other. I don't think any amount of creative writing will describe how awesome this place was. So I'm just going to say that anyone that comes to visit needs to check this beach out because it is worth the trip. Below are some teaser photos taken while at the beach. More photos to come! Maybe even a short video.
Below is a pano of a cove just beyond the beach where Stacy and I hiked up to.
Here is a 180 degree pano I just slapped together of Sandfly beach..
A friend of mine - Colin, happened to be traveling to New Zealand around the same time I left, he has been been tramping and doing the hostel circuit around NZ for the last few weeks. You can check out his travel blog here! Last night (Friday Feb 5) he came down and joined me here in Dunedin. Colin was a friend I had met at SAIT a few years ago. So last night Colin and I checked out the Pub scene and stumbled around like lost tourists until early Saturday morning.
This morning we got up and had a 1.5h surf lesson starting around noon out at St. Clair. Wow surfing is hard! I got up a few times but with sand in my hair and salt water in my lunges I decided that I after an hour and a half I was done! Learning to surf reminds me of learning to wakeboard, where it took me a solid week to really figure out what was doing. I was able to get up easier on the bigger waves but still that was spotty at best.. I Don't know how you do it Nikki.
After the lesson we walked around St.Clair, checked out Second Beach and finally made our way back to my place. I walked into my room and crashed for an hour while Colin did laundry and watched TV.
Well that's it for now.. We're going to attempt Frisbee tomorrow if I'm not completely soar..
It's been a week since I landed in Dunedin, and I'm beginning to find my groove. Much to my surprise I have felt little to no jet lag, I think this is because Stacy packed the first day with lots of activities which didn't give me a chance to slow down enough for my body to crash. That allowed me to stay on Dunedin time right from the start.
My first week was spent getting my work stations and computers in order. I've got quite the learning curve ahead of me, but it's doable. Day 2 was mostly spent learning Dental terminology, mainly the anatomy of a tooth. The rest of the week was spent learning techniques for modeling different parts of a tooth. The days fly by as there is so much to do but the days in the office are often long, only because I haven't have a chance to break into any social circles yet, so I tend to stay longer at work as there isn't much happening at home.
When I do get out I have been exploring Dunedin on my longboard. It's downhill both ways here in NZ as the streets are paved using asphalt, it's like riding on silk. You rarely have to push, and it seems like the board just goes forever! The topography of Dunedin is really something that I've never experienced before. Think of Dunedin city center, with the harbor being on relatively a flat plane, the outer suburbs surrounding the city center are built into massive hills.. The key word here, is massive.. Nothing in Calgary can even compare to how big and steep the hills/streets are. There seems to be no order as to how the streets are constructed either, roads suddenly end at the bottom of a stair cases and start back again at the top. I haven't seen any cars attempt the stair cases yet. The thing with these hills is that my longboard would be useless on the way up, and unfortunately just as useless on the way down as I would certainly reach terminal velocity within 15 feet of the start. Dunedin is home to the world's steepest street, Baldwin Street, I would probably give most streets in Dunedin the same title..
Here are a few photos I found online of Baldwin Street.
Saturday I decided I'd venture out a bit further and try to longboard to St. Clair Beach. I can't say the journey to the beach was all that exciting. Google maps had me going in all directions but once I got there, there was lots of things to explore. Dunedin is like Lethbridge, It's like 5 minutes to get anywhere in the city by car, but easily over an hour is you tried to walk.. Anyway, I've put together another mini video of St. Clair.
