strawberry fields forever

ever since i got back on sunday night, i've been floating around dunedin in a holiday mood as though school doesnt exist. still got those roadtripping tendencies in me which can't seem to go away so easily! help! but as a result, i'm starting to realise just how beautiful my own backyard is!

for starters, on monday, i had this craving for sushi. eugene, glen, dias, shanny and i met for lunch and next thing i know, we're driving to the summit of mount cargill and i see dunedin as i've never seen it before. i had no idea how beautiful it was and let my eyes feast on the rolling hills, the peninsula, the oceans and the bays, all the different colours. my recently blown hair was once again wind-swept and crazy, story of my life these past 2 months. and if that wasn't enough, we headed down to the peninsula where we descended some sand dunes to find penguins and seals. i was so amazed to see that there really were penguins and seals here, that in new zealand, you only had to drive to one place or the other and you'd find a surprise waiting for you. here was this beautiful beach, where gulls, penguins, seals and whatnot seemed to co-exist together harmoniously, and we were just intruders, so kindly allowed to tread on their piece of prime land by the sea. it was also the first time i noticed the spray above the waves, which rose and fell so gracefully for something which partnered the roaring waves. a lazy seal whiled away the hours sleeping by the sea, oblivious to the humans, penguins and the other seals who were having their evening tete-a-tete. i was reminded of reno because that's exactly what reno would do. then again, almost all animals remind me of reno and his idiosyncrasies. the climb up the sand dunes was killer and reminded me of the dunes at the 90-mile beach near cape reinga where we climbed up to slide down on our toboggans. i picked up a random stick to aid my climb and imagined i was gandalf, thanks to the teasing of my mates. we ended the day with 5 boxes of pizza and a pasar malam (night market) to divide the leftover groceries from the trip.

you'd think it was back to work but..no. last night, we got together planning part of our travels for after the semester. and today, after "playing" at music technology class, i met up with some of them for a lunch buffet at pizza hut. i was resolved to go for my 4pm pricing lecture and because i had time to kill, i followed glen, eugene and dias for a walk. we walked so far i skipped the whole lecture! it was my first time walking through north dunedin. we walked through castle street where the riots occured recently, we walked through the botanical gardens where i couldn't stop laughing at the crazy antics of the duckies, we walked past schools and houses and shops and churches and...we walked UP baldwin street. baldwin street, my dear friends, is the steepest street in the WORLD. it is actually a tourist attraction. more than a month ago, during the cadbury carnival, cadbury released 20,000 jaffa balls down this hill. you were allowed to place your bets on a ball and if it reached the bottom first, you won. how crazy does that sound? and how crazy is this? i played truant from class to climb this slope, which i had no intention whatsoever of ever climbing in the first place!!! i blame this on glen because he is a visitor in dunedin and taking visitors around always makes me feel like i'm on holiday.

the walk back home today was lovely though. it was one loooooong walk. just after parting from the guys, i came across a pet shop and couldn't resist going in. i saw so many different varieties of birds and oh how cute they were. then i saw a HUGE corgi being brought home by his owners just after grooming. and what a BEEEEEEEG corgi it was! i've never seen any corgi so big before. to those of you who kept calling reno fat, EAT your words man!

on the way home, i passed a park that looked nice to walk in. i think i'll walk there some time. walking home was a feast for my eyes again. i just kept looking, and looking, and looking. at houses, people, shops, buildings, cars, clouds, everything i could look at. and the surreal sounds of moby ringing in my ears, well, you know what that does. i reached home contented but the cold hard truth is that i have ALOT to do!!! faint.

holidays' over, shireen. it doesn't help that i'm expecting a "surprise" visit from eugene with his pack of cards, ready to play bridge later. yes, i learnt how to play bridge, again, for the 3rd time. but don't worry, shanny! i'm not joining their club. not. just. yet. haha.

and why am i just randomly blogging this post when i have such a backlog of posts to put up from the past few weeks??? whatever, just refer to shanny's blog in the meantime. she's tirelessly and determinedly putting up posts about our trip. hopefully i get down to doing mine soon!

i wish you were here.

oh yes, who is lovely ruby? ruby is the new-born daughter of the german couple i bought my car from. they paid us a surprise visit on monday morning and i was so happy just looking at her and carrying her in my arms. it always amazes me how anything can be so small and fragile. welcome to planet earth, little ruby! =)

the only thing stopping me from wishing myself into a seal lazing on the beach is the cold. sunny days, where have you gone?