Leaving the pier feeling a little damp, I pointed my car in the direction of town and proceeded to join light traffic that was heading in the same direction. On my way I noticed that overnight some creative individual had put googly eyes on all the faces of the local body election advertising billboards. An idea that I must admit was very amusing. It’s very hard to take a mayoral candidate seriously when they’re wearing a set of googly eyes! The drive into town was slow and tedious. The streets were filled with an usual amount of student drivers, all of whom clutched at the steering wheel looking terrified and not too stable. Oddly enough, in every vehicle (and there were at least five of them), in the passenger seat sat an adult looking equally terrified, and in one case so petrified that I swear he was about to eject himself from the vehicle at any moment. When at last I arrived in town,I am sorry that things didn't go as smoothly. Or, to put it another way, I remembered why I’d stopped visiting the city centre. You see, it comes down to parking! Where in god's name do people park in the city centre, there simply isn’t anywhere to park! In Dunedin’s attempt to spruce up the main street while at the same time replacing old water, wastewater and stormwater pipes in the central city — some dating back to the late 1800s, some upgrades are happening. This means that multiple blocks have been closed while the construction takes place. The unfortunate thing is that Dunedin’s city centre just isn’t big enough for it to go unnoticed or to not affect the vast majority of visitors. This situation isn’t helped by Dunedin currently suffering from a lack of bus drivers meaning that the darn things don’t turn up from time to time. Not something that is very helpful when the city centre is suffering from a lack of visitors or parking spaces. So it was that I joined a long line of cars circling a section of the city, ready to pounce the moment a space became free. Doing this, I managed to listen to half a Green Day album before I spotted a vehicle about to leave. Leaping into action I did what I hate other drivers doing, I waited! A car behind me showed his annoyance by tooting however on this occasion I simply didn’t care! My knuckles were white, my jaw was jaw clenched and my resolve was firm. I didn’t care how much traffic I held up, I was getting the parking spot. Something I celebrated with a friendly wave to the passing queue that said, so long suckers! John's Blog https://fromasmallcity.nz/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
Leaving my car expertly parked, the first thing I noticed was the newly installed pathing stones. “they do look rather nice” I thought to myself as I joined the various Sunday shoppers that filled the streets. I did all the things you do when you’re casually strolling inner city streets looking at nothing in particular. I read signs, looked in windows, guessed the price of items I didn’t need or want and admired new stores that had probably been around for ages. I was amazed at how many I hadn’t been into and how many I had no desire to visit at all. I looked in one shop and try as I might, I simply could think of a single reason to enter. It was about this time that I happened to pass a series of cafes and eateries that were reasonably busy, one of which was called Kiki Beware. It was doing a brisker trade than most and a line was forming out the door. It was filled with young female students who were all squealing and hugging each other until the excitement eventually dissipated. Then a new arrival would join the group and the squealing and hugging would start all over again. This carried on for some time as long after I had passed, their shrieking could be heard echoing down the street. John's Blog https://fromasmallcity.nz/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
The gardens at Larnach’s Castle are outstanding in so many ways. There’s wide open spaces, fountains, secret garden paths, forest walks, all sorts of themed plantings that are surrounded and capped off by this magnificent view and the splendid castle. John's Blog https://fromasmallcity.nz/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
