From Dunedin to Wellington

With the conference over I had a bit of an opportunity to explore Dunedin, not that I haven't done that before. I took a long walk down to the magnificent St Clair/St Kilda beach, visited the charming Long Dog cafe, and then to the rocky environs of Second Beach, with its fine collection of Cthulhu-esque seaweed and sudden drops. There was also a trip to every second-hand bookstore and opportunity shop I could find, from one end of the town to the other. Even as it is far beyond a matter of necessity at this stage of my life and whilst I usually only buy a trinket or memento, I do enjoy visiting second-hand stores. They're like museums of common people, a step into the lives once lived, and either discarded or donated. One such find was a boxed collector's edition of Wild Animus, a thoroughly strange book, along with the musical accompaniment, which apparently is better than the novel.

The following day, the flight to Wellington was without incident. Was collected at the airport by the Barker/Elliot clan who took me to The Botanist on Lyall Bay. Lovely seaside location, excellent vegetarian and vegan food. They then dropped me off at the Waterloo Hotel, my preferred residence in Wellington. It's by no means a five-star hotel or anything like that, but it is superb value for money, with a solid old-deco feel to it. Some of the rooms are dorms for backpackers, others (as I prefer) are individual rooms with a shared bathroom between two. For tomorrow I have prepared myself for all the requirements for Bramble Cay Melomys Day - I'll kick off the Australian memorials with what will certainly be a solo memorial in Cuba St, Dunedin. But many good things in Australia start in New Zealand, as the locals will surely mention. The day has ended with a light dinner and drinks with speakers for the Multicore World conference.