Dunedin

Well here I am back in Dunedin. Last time it was for Jerry and now it is for me. So, in Oamaru I went to see the blue penguins (for free) which was ok, but slightly depressing cos they got surrounded by a group of tourists...they obviously just wanted to go to their nests (they come in from the sea at nightfall - up the boat ramp here - and go find their nests), but the tourists had other ideas, so me and my mate left them to it.

However, the next evening we all went to a place called The Penguin Club for some drinks and music. This was a sweet little place down an alley that you'd probably not find if you were passing through, in the historic district. [Oamaru's two pulls for tourists are penguins and the historic district. The former results in everything being named Penguin this or Penguin that, while the latter means there is 19th century architecture such as colonnades and old grain stores etc, which is all pretty impressive]. Anyway, it turns out that if you are hanging about the historic district after dark (which only the locals do...and not many of them..just the boozers!) you get to see the odd penguin walking about. So there we are outside the club, beneath which two penguins nest, and when it gets quiet, out they come to investigate you! As one of my compadres pointed out, they look like little old men...so there you have it; penguins living under the penguin club.

So, next day I headed down to Dunedin and got a lift all the way with a fella named Des who was off to a funeral down there (having had his wife's funeral the previous week...). He was a friendly fella of 60+ who (like many people who pick up hitchers) used to hitch himself. A few things he told me...once he got picked up by a fella who looked familiar and after a while Des realised this bloke had given him a lift the previous year. Another time he was waiting for a lift, when a plane landed in the adjacent field and offered him a lift! And even more strangely (maybe) he once got a lift from a cousin of his he'd never met before! Small world...

So Dunedin is grey and gloomy today, but at least not too cold and it all seems very familiar. I arrived a little early, so my bed wasn't yet made up. So I popped down the road to a squat I'd visited 4 years ago, which had now an art gallery downstairs. One big old building that was standing empty 4 years ago is still in the same state (the old post office/sorting office I'm told). This struck me as a shame, cos it's an big old 3 or 4 story building from the late 19th/early 29th century (by the look of it) and could, I'm sure, be put to good use by the huge number of creative people in this city...and I took a picture of the same poster that was outside the squat 4 years ago!

I was fortunate to have a contact down here and so I have had a jam with some locals which was kinda spacey. The space we jammed in was this guy Dean's place and it was a good spot...seemed to be an old factory in an industrial area of town, but as a result was spacious and noise can be made there...plus he had a cool scarelectrix setup which entertained us pre-jam.

Melvins was awesome, as expected. They started with the first tune off the new album (I think the first tune anyway...lots of drumming and call and responding) and finished with Buzz and the bassist walking off leaving their guitars feedbacking and the 2 drummers continuing with an almost boredoms type drum workout. So good. Oh, they actually finished (after the drumming) with a recording through the PA of Their's No Business Like Show Business (I think that's the name!).

ps. I'm still alive!

alley by the Penguin Club (Oamaru)

Dunedin

lots of churches in Dunedin...

bad photo of the scarelectrix setup (although it does have a rainbow!)

never too busy to have a mooch round a graveyard

are these safe to eat?

you little cutey!