I drove from Fiordland to Dunedin (quite a long drive!) and arrived at my hostel, which was called Hogwartz and had a Harry Potter theme. I was a bit disappointed though – if I had a Harry Potter themed hostel I would do more Harry Potter stuff! I met some lovely girls in my hostel that night, Karin and Eva from Germany and Yvonne from Switzerland. In the morning Karin and I went around Dunedin together and went to see the art museum in town. We had a lovely time discussing the art together. It was really interesting to see the cultural differences in how we responded to the art. For example, the museum was organized around themes like color or scale, rather than by time period. Karin found this very offputting and felt that it made it hard for her to think about the art because it was very disjointed, while I loved it and felt like it helped me consider the art from different perspectives. She said something like that would be unheard of in Europe, where art is generally arranged by time period only. 

That afternoon I went with all those girls and a German man called Keno to see Baldwin Street, the world’s steepest residential street, and then to drive around the Otago Peninsula. It was quite beautiful. The road was right next to the sea for most of the drive, with less than a foot between the edge of the road and the ocean! We stopped at an albatross center and I saw an albatross flying! 

The following day I drove up the coast to see the Moeraki Boulders, large round boulders on a sandy beach. Very unique! I continued on to Oamaru. Oamaru was quite rich in the Victorian time, due to the ice shipping industry. There was a gorgeous street of Victorian buildings. It is also the steampunk center of New Zealand. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction inspired by 19th century designs and steam-powered machinery. I spent a long time walking around the Victorian district and then I visited the Steampunk Museum, which was really a trip highlight for me. It was a massive installation of steampunk art. I really loved it. I had a blast taking photos there. 

I then headed on to Lake Tekapo, a glacial lake with a beautiful cloudy and bright blue color. I went up to the observatory for a beautiful view of the lake and the surrounding area. There was a charming little stone church on the waterfront. That area is a dark park, so I was hoping to do some stargazing, but it was cloudy the night I was there. 

I finished my time in New Zealand in Christchurch. Christchurch suffered a horrible earthquake a few years ago and is still recovering. There is tons of construction everywhere, and lots of street art on the damaged buildings.