Easter-y Scenes in New Zealand

Christchurch Contemporary Art Museum

Cadbury Chocolate factory, in Dunedin


A luncheonette in Alexandra, between Dunedin and Queenstown

Tranzalpine

The train ride from Greymouth back to Christchuch featured gorgeous mountain scenery, dotted with occassional snow caps and plunging views from narrow bridges into river gorges. We agreed though that it would have felt more spectacular at the start of our trip, rather than at the end.

West Coast, South Island

Possum Pie!

Lake Matheson

Fox Glacier

Puzzling World

Arrowtown and Glenorchy--Hobbit Country

Queenstown

Dunedin to Queenstown

Steepest Street? Not! (Perhaps)

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Baldwin Street, in Dunedin, is the steepest street in the world.

Or is it?

It was damn steep, for sure. But it reminded me a bit of a street or two in Pittsburgh's Greenfield neighborhood, and of course, I got to thinking about Rialto Street in Troy Hill, off Route 28, too, so I Googled it and wouldn't you know ... according to Wikipedia's entry on Baldwin Street, "Canton Avenue, in the Pittsburgh neighbourhood of Beechview, may be steeper; it is unofficially measured to be a 37% grade," while Baldwin comes in at a mere 35%. So now I guess I have to go drive up Canton Avenue!

Where the heck is the Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau on this one? People come from far and wide to climb Baldwin Street. At an official HQ and gift shop at the bottom of the street you can buy a certificate signed by the mayor attesting to the fact that you walked/drove/skateboarded(!)/etc. the world's steepest street. Dunedin also has a festival each year where people roll some kind of special Cadbury candy down the hill (Cadbury has a factory in town) and win prizes.

(By the way, Rialto is only the fifth steepest street in Pittsburgh, according to this website
http://www.wpwbikeclub.org/pgh_hills.html)

The All Blacks

The New Zealand Football team is called the All Blacks. It's what we call rugby. They do a Maori war chant/dance called the Haka before every game. Haka means dance. When they play against other Polynesian teams both teams sometimes do their own. Check out the NZ vs. Tonga pre-game Haka on Youtube. Other New Zealand teams also do the Haka - we are hoping to see it when the NZ warriors play the Newcastle United Knights in Energy Australia stadium here in Newcastle on May 12. Stay tuned for the home video!

Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula

Christchurch Botanical Garden