The photos below do not quite capture the beauty of entering Dunedin from the north, but it was that view that I instantly fell in love with. The tantalizing hints of the blue on the horizon as I drove up, over, and back down green hills with cute houses filled me with joy. And it's not just me: check out the Wiki page - look at all the panoramas.

My love affair with Dunedin only continued at seeing awesome churches like these (right) and other gorgeousness at the The Octagon, which is the you-guessed-it octagonal shaped road in the center of town that bisects the main street. I had entered into a green, oceanside, gothic version of my hometown (a college town with about the same population: 120,000) and I was digging it big time. I knew I had found the place I was going to live, if I could find a job.

I spent my first week in a single room (I was sick of sharing) at the good old YHA hostel in Dunedin. I hung out with the couple that was managing it and had my first taste of New Zealand lamb and first exposure to the famous New Zealand movie "Once Were Warriors." I spent my days checking out Dunedin, putting my name in at temp agencies / taking clerical tests, and faxing my resume to random tech companies in the phone book. Despite that my resume was American style (i.e. only one page and lacking in a photo and the, in my opinion, unnecessary personal information that CVs tend to have), I got a call back. Only it was not a call back from the guy I had faxed, but the guy who shared an office with him. I walked over, had a five minute interview to do websites / programming, and was hired! Never got a call back from anywhere else I faxed.

The rate I was hired at, when converted to American dollars, was less than minimum wage, but I didn't care. I went to the library to brush up on my C and web dev skills that evening. I also got called back in about a week from the temp agency for another part-time job. So, amazingly, within less than two weeks of arriving, I was set! By an odd coincidence, both my new bosses were from South Africa (and had an even-harder-to-understand accent.) Despite that, though, my main boss was pure New Zealand: his parents owned a pub and his wife was the daughter of sheep farmers. My temp job was at the University of Otago, pictured left. The job itself was only data-entry, not interesting or unexpected, but I got to walk down the spiral stone staircase in the tower for my coffee break every morning. Awesome.

My apartment hunt was difficult because I was hoping to find a place that was furnished. (And, in a fit of wishful thinking, I believed "F/F" meant Fully Furnished - when of course it means Fridge/Freezer - which did not help matters.) Eventually, with the help of the local extortionist rental company (I think all rental companies are extortionists, so it's just my bias, nothing to do with Dunedin), I found a furnished duplex at more than I wanted to pay, but it was perfect. It came with a cat. Yes, a cat. Which I was only mildly allergic to. So I moved in! My place was on a cute hillside full of cute houses and my commute was great - a drive with an ocean view on the way that went right through the octagon, all the best things about Dunedin in an every day drive.

I wandered Dunedin quite often and, on occasion, hung out at the pub (my boss' parents' joint) with the locals and it was them who explained rugby and cricket to me (I still don't get cricket). I drank Speights, a beer brewed right here in Dunedin. It wasn't too bad considering that I don't actually like beer. I never got around to visiting the brewery, though. The locals also told me, later in the year, about Guy Fawkes day and I didn't believe that it was a real holiday (the same way that, when some guy was telling me about Mad Cow Disease during a barbecue several years back, I thought he was pulling my leg.) I also briefly played netball. Netball is a popular game for women in New Zealand (though I played on an adult co-ed team) and it is similar to basketball with a net at each end except that there is no dribbling and you can only have the ball in your hand for three seconds. (Therefore, it is very much a passing game.) The balls are more like volleyballs, the baskets have no backboards and the court is split into thirds with well-defined positions.

New Zealand has inherited some British slang, some Australian slang, some Maori slang, and has developed some unique New Zealandisms of its own. Here's a brief guide of some words I picked up while there; they'll make an American English spellchecker go wonky:

• Sweet as!: Great! Awesome! Good as Gold! Sweet! This is the ultimate New Zealand-only term. You do not say anything after "as", it's just understood.
• Good on you!: Good for you! Nice! Good job! (pronounced 'gud AWN ya')
• How are you going?: How are you doing? How's it going?
• sussed: worked out ("Have you sussed it yet?") I had to ask my boss to repeat himself about five times when he first asked me this. Then I asked for a definition.
• Pakeha: a White/European person to the Maori
• hire: rent (hire a taxi, video hire)
• chemist: pharmacist
• rubbish: garbage (literally and figuratively)
• Plunket: adjective describing the society that promotes babies' health (they also come around asking for donations)
• tea: dinner ("Are we having chicken for tea?")
• handle: a beer glass with a handle
• tumblers: drinking glasses (as opposed to a wine glass) without handles
• section: lot/area/property (i.e. "It takes him 2 hours to mow his section")
• singlet: tank top
• full stop: period (like at the end of a sentence)
• en suite: has a bathroom attached ("the place has 4 en-suite rooms")
• rugged up: bundled up
• dearer: more expensive ("But that restaurant is dearer.")
• All Black: a player on New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks (they are called that because (drumroll) their uniform is all black and because, according to lonely planet, they were called the "All Backs" by British press on an early visit to England.)
• Tall Black: a player on New Zealand's basketball team
• Silver Ferns: cool fern with a silver bottom found in NZ that's also the name of New Zealand's netball team and is on some New Zealand coins
• tests: games where the national team is playing ("There's a test on tonight at 8")
• series: season (of television. "The fifth series of Friends starts next month.")
• greenstone: jade (Hokitika is famous for greenstone)
• Watties: canned food, NZ style, like Campbells
• tomato sauce: ketchup
• tramping: doing some serious hiking
• Aotearoa: Land of the Long White Cloud (what the Maori call New Zealand)
• bush: out-of-the-way natural spots, forested areas ("We camped out in the bush")
• BYO: a sign at a restaurant that says this means you can bring your own alcohol to drink while eating there
• CV: Curriculum Vitae, resume
• biscuit: cookie
• afghan: a chocolate biscuit
• motorway: freeway/expressway
• zed: Z ("The web site is at dub dub dub dot xtra dot c o dot en zed")
• whinging: whining, (whinger = whiner)
• POM: Brit ('Prisoner of Mother England'), often used together with 'whinging'
• petrol: gasoline
• pikelet: mini pancake
• jam: jelly
• jelly: jello
• lemonade: Sprite or 7-up (I have no idea what the lemon-water-sugar combination is called)
• JAFA: Just Another F*cking Aucklander
• sconed: hit in the head
• nappies: diapers
• roundabout: traffic circle
• Give Way: the most common road sign; it is usually where Americans normally see Stop signs; it means "Yield"
• choice: fantastic, great (and not just for cuts of beef)
• ciggies: cigarettes
• knackered: tired
• EFTPOS: Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale = basically an ATM card that you can use like cash at supermarkets, restaurants, petrol stations, pubs, anywhere
• tallboy: dresser (a tall one as opposed to a vanity or nightchest)
• shifting: moving (as in to a new house or just moving an object "Can you help me shift next weekend? Can you help me shift all these boxes?")
• boot / bonnet: trunk / hood (of a car)
• flat: apartment
• apartment: a high-end flat
• flatmate: roommate
• roommate: lover
• wee: small
• tart: slut
• trolley: cart (as in shopping trolley, luggage trolley)
• Trundler Park: Shopping Cart Return in a parking lot
• my news: stuff that happened to me recently
• shout: buy a round (of drinks) ("It's my shout tonight.")
• telly: TV ("Whats on the telly?" "Shortland Street.")
• GST: (goods and service tax) the 12.5% tax on everything you buy
• Ben and Jerry: two people New Zealanders do not know
• Takeaways: Take Out (usually Chinese or fish and chips)
• cheers: thanks (but, like in the US, it is also something to say when drinking a toast)
• mate: friend, bud, man (on the phone: "I'm bringing the Speights." "Cheers, mate")
• trainers: sneakers
• stuffed: f*cked (up) ("I didn't pay my Telecom bill, I'm stuffed now.")
• Hongi: rubbing noses against each other's and sharing the breath of life = how Maori greet each other (or how Maori at touristy places may greet you)
• Haka: a Maori dance / war chant (usually refers to the COOL one: Ka Mate)
• orientated: oriented
• Hens Night and Bucks parties: Bachelorette Parties and Bachelor Parties
• footpath: sidewalk
• drink-driving: drunk driving
• barby: barbecue
• sultana: raisins
• tyre: tire (just a different spelling)
• dairy: convenience store

So, over my many months living and working in Dunedin, I got into the New Zealand lifestyle. I soon knew my way around Dunedin pretty well, got fully used to driving on the left, visited the botanical garden and famous sites like Olveston House and Larnach Castle ("the Only Castle in New Zealand"), and was getting into some local music. Akina Moa and Stellar* (with the asterisk) were two of my favorites. I drank Speights. I watched Shortland Street (*the* prime-time NZ soap). I learned how sheep are neutered. I went to a pub quiz at "Cableways" and rocked the world capitals round (except I forgot Ecuador is Quito which I'll probably never forget again). I got addicted to Watties creamed rice and would often pick it up at "Countdown" or "New World" (the two grocery stores nearby) on my way home. That and Bounty Dark, my favorite candy bar. New Zealand has more Cadbury chocolates than you ever knew existed. I learned that I liked pickled beets and that if you mix sweetened condensed milk and vinegar, you get salad dressing. (I also mostly got the hang of that weird Give Way to the Right driving rule. The U.S. equivalent would be if you were making a right turn at an intersection, you have to yield to the person opposite you making a left onto the same street.)

I went to a few Shakespeare plays (closer to the right accent) and other shows while in Dunedin, but by far the silliest was "Kiwi Fire", a group of muscular males who danced and stripped to their speedos for the enjoyment of shrieking ladies. I kept seeing the ads on TV and just could not help it, I had to get a ticket. Wish I had found someone to go with, though I was way too embarrassed to actually ask anyone. But I did go with a big group from work to see Harry Potter.

Both New Zealand (and Australia) have some seriously disturbing TV spots during the commercials against drunk driving. It actually got to the point where I had to turn off the TV if I saw one coming on. I mean, I agree that people shouldn't drink and drive, but I'd also like to not be traumatized with sad stories whenever I'm watching TV. They have regular checkpoints. I was stopped once (I did work next door to a pub). The very friendly officer was having trouble with those backwards American dates. It probably didn't help that I accidentally had given him my student ID instead of my license at first. This "License to Drive" Corey Haim moment was less embarrassing because the officer was indeed so friendly.

My electric bill was always shockingly high for some reason, but even after whining to the very nice person on the other end of the electric company for 30 minutes, it turned out there was not much I could do about it. The other side of my duplex was home to a very nice older couple (with a mysteriously lower bill). I chatted with the lady, Peggy, a lot. They did not like my adopted cat as he liked to poo in their yard, but they didn't really blame me. They also weren't fond of the jungle of my backyard, but it was like that when I got there (and I was not not yard-worky enough to do much about it.) But we had very nice chats otherwise. It was Peggy who knocked on my door on the morning of September 12th and told me to turn on the TV.

Eventually, it came time for me to get my Warrant of Fitness renewed. My boss knew a used car dealer (I helped him do his website and he helped me get cheap tires for my car) and he assisted with the renewal process when mine was about to expire. I was very bummed, though, when the mechanic said I needed to fix rust damage before I could get the warrant. I thought I could get a "second opinion" but apparently that is totally not allowed, which I thought was unfair. (Being from a dry climate I am not used to the concept of rust damage.) So I paid to get it fixed and soon had a fresh new WoF. Also, one day when I gave someone a ride up the steep hills of Dunedin, I lost my hubcap! I retraced my routes, but no dice.

The whole town lights up for Christmas, it's gorgeous! Better, my entire family was coming out to see me for the holidays! Woo! I bought a leg-o-lamb, which I planned to cook for Christmas dinner, and looked around for some egg nog. For quite a while. I even tried a different store. But, no, you cannot buy egg nog in New Zealand apparently. So I looked up a recipe and made it myself! I'm still surprised that the ingredients I put in came out tasting like egg nog; not going to tell you what actually goes in there - whoa. I planned to keep the Xmas deco simple as it was probably going to be a one-time thing. I probably went a little overboard.

For being mid-summer here in New Zealand, you think it'd be warmer! But, nope, pretty chilly, actually. In their short time here, we celebrated the holidays with gifts (many represented by polaroid pictures) and a leg of lamb that actually turned out pretty good for my first try! I took my family on mini-tour of South Island. We started out driving around beautiful Dunedin, stopped at the self-titled World's Steepest Street. I do not know if that is accurate, but it is pretty darn steep and quite an effort to walk to the top. They apparently have a race up and down this street. Later, we drove down beautiful Portobello Road (I sing Bedknobs and Broomsticks songs every time I drive on it) to the end of Otago Peninsula. It has some cool cliffs and a great view. But we saw no penguins.

We then hopped in the car and ambitiously did a Queenstown - Milford Sound - Wanaka loop. A lot of driving, but a lot of great scenery. Milford Sound was rainy, but the fog made for some cool effects. We stopped at Mirror Lakes on the way there and had a nice rum and coke when we arrived. In Queenstown, we did jet boating from the waterfront and luge riding at the top of the Gondola, but no bungy jumping this time. On the way back, we stopped at "Puzzling World" at Wanaka (slightly north of Queenstown) which was definitely a highlight. Wanaka was also the warmest weather we saw. Sunny and almost short-sleeve weather! Sad that there's an exclamation point since we are in summer, here. We sat out in the sun on the beach of Lake Wanaka and rented some plastic pedal boats to cruise around the water.

Before I took my family to the airport, we went to Celtic Arms pub for a pint. We sung our own version of George Michael while we sipped: "Gotta have Speights!" A couple days later, it was New Years. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize why I was not seeing Dick Clark or any other familiar countdowns on TV.

After New Years, my friend Melinda visited from Australia and we went on a South Island loop. First, we drove north and visited (read: got lost in) Christchurch. We stayed in the crappiest hostel ever with a giant, loud area (with partitions, not separate rooms) that held dozens of loud people including two girls who stole the beds that were assigned to us and told us to sleep in the ones assigned to them, and we had to pay extra for sheets. Lame. But we had a good time anyway. We drove along the coast and discovered random sculpture gardens, then drove up along steep roads (once a cow got in our way), finally checking out the Gondola. Then we drove to French Akaroa on the coast, which was quite beautiful. Though I have a special place in my heart for Lyttleton, a nearby place we also visited. This neat town is safely tucked in the mountains in front of a bay. The only ways to get there are by boat, over a treacherous mountain pass, or through a very long tunnel. We opted for the tunnel and explored the steep hilly streets.

As we drove, we passed by some hitchhikers that tempted me to pick them up by their very clever cardboard sign: "We Have Chocolate." We stayed in Moby Dix hostel in Kaikoura, where my companion proceeded to get locked in the loo. Fun, fun. The next day, we checked out some famous hot springs (I think Hamner?) though the water was not quite hot enough in most of the pretty pools (also, with all of our driving, we were starting to drive each other a bit crazy.) Then we walked across (and swung across!) Buller Gorge which was great fun and walked on the nice foresty trails surrounding it. We spent the next couple days cruising down the West Coast, singing in the car, eating blueberries from a roadside farm, and trying to find a hostel with a picture of a Moose on it.

We made it to Queenstown and checked out the busy, happenin' downtown. On this trip, we were following a pretty similar route that I did in August when I arrived in the South Island, but traveling and hostelling in New Zealand in summer is a totally different thing. First off, everything is crowded. Hostels are louder, dirtier, and you have to reserve them farther in advance - a couple days or so - to get a spot whereas in winter you could show up whenever, wherever (by Shakira). I think we got one of the last rooms in Te Anau. But, finally finally, we were off to Milford Sound. And this time, the weather was perfect.

Going through Homer Tunnel is necessary to get to the road that leads to Milford Sound. It's a long, dark, narrow, and especially fun when a very large bus is coming the other direction and you are not quite sure whether you are going to fit. But the entire drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound is gorgeous. Stunning. Breathtaking. Other inspiring superlatives.

The weather was so sunny and beautiful, we got a sunburn as we floated along the Sound. We chatted with some rich Americans on the boat and marveled at the beauty around us. Though the waterfall is actually less dramatic in summer. We then turned around and started the long drive back. At some point, we realized the fuel light was blinking (and we had no idea for how long.) We were panicking a bit and, thinking quickly back, remembered we had passed a petrol station about 20 kilometers back. Nervously, we turned around and drove back, trying to drive using the least amount of gas as possible. We made it. Whew. As we drove back to where we were, we realized we had been a meager 3 kilometers away from petrol. Sigh. We rounded out our trip by hitting the southernmost tip of New Zealand and also passed some funny-named towns.

After all my visitors left, I chilled a bit and stayed within the area, hanging out with my boss and his wife, going to a couple parties including one where a European Wine Merchant showed off his wares. I also wandered around beautiful Dunedin and finally saw Tunnel Beach.