The Lone Freestyler 

It suddenly occurred to me the other day that Wednesday was quickly rolling around and I didn’t have anything to write for my blog. Without realising it, I had once again unbalanced myself and spent a bit too much time taking photos while not really thinking about what to write about. This happens to me from time to time, grasshopper brain I think it’s called. 

To reconnect with my fascinating weekly insights into life in Dunedin I took a quick glance back over my blog. The intention had been to explore the themes of culture and identity in Aotearoa by investigating if Ōtepoti reflect it’s Scotish roots of Kilts, Haggis and Robbie Burns poetry? Are we a nation still obsessed with Fush & Chups, The Edmonds Cookbook and Hokey Pokey Ice Cream? Do we still have a  No 8 Wire mentality? Are these items symbolic of life in Aotearoa or just of an urban myth sold off to tourists who drive on the wrong side of the road and decorate bushes with loo paper?

However, instead of answering these questions all I had seemed to have done was survive a cauliflower invasion when shopping at the supermarket, discovered the trees that William Thomson planted and I was still none the wiser as to who Adam Scott is and why he has a jetty named after him. I’ve lost houses in my neighbourhood, found the Athene Nuctua in an abandoned building at Blackhead Beach, escaped a crazy dog man at Chingford Park, discovered that the bagpipes are the only musical instrument to be recognised as a weapon of war, found out that a lone freestyler isn’t allowed to enter the Octagonal Day contest and had a near death experience from a bovine stampede. 

Looking back, I wasn’t sure I’d said anything about life in Dunedin at all, let alone answer any questions about life in a small city, in a small island, in the South Pacific Ocean. So, I settled my mind on needing to explore Ōtepoti some more in order to write my weekly blog. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a newspaper article to read. It’s called “Otago students hit back at uni’s rubbish plan targeting their homes.” It seems that the local uni student population are happy to protest about climate change, but aren’t happy about having to pick-up their rubbish. Does that seem a tiny bit hypocritical to anyone else?

PS: Happy birthday to my most avid reader June.