#Dunedin

Our visit to Dunedin was brief as we only had 3 things to tick off on our to see/do list.
First on the list was to visit the most photographed building in the Southern Hemisphere which was an old train station in the town centre. I can’t see how it’s more photographed than the opera house but you can’t argue with a Kiwi tour guide!

Once we had our pictures, my dad was practically wailing as he had been waiting for a coffee for half an hour. We drove past a cafe called ironic. “Let’s not go to some random generic cafe!” Exclaimed my dad.
But it was not some random generic cafe! Oh no! This was Dunedin’s famous, award winning coffee cafe with funky art sculptures. It’s claim to fame won us over as we all sampled New Zealand’s greatest!

Our final stop was the world’s steepest road!
We stood at the bottom of the road and looked towards the top. Easy!
I began to walk up the hill with my dad trailing behind me. Soon, we were both trying to run up the near vertical gradient. I stopped on average every 5 second’s to clutch my heart and decide if I was mild heart attack or not!

We kept on going, small children passed us and then we passed them. A well placed bench gave us refuge from the challenge. My legs ached, my breath was heavy and fast and I wondered if I would be able to reach the top. We kept on going up. Finally reaching the top and celebrating with a high five!
While we caught our breath and had some water, we noticed a lady with a video recorder. I asked her what was going on.
She told us that her son was going to pogo stick up the hill.
“Wow!”

She then told us of how her little girl had had cancer and her brother had wanted to do something for charity to raise money for the hospice that had supported their family! I choked back the tears and watched as the eleven year old boy hopped his way up the impossible hill.
His friends gathered to cheer him on as well as his family and family friends. By standers like us joined in the cheering and clapping him on.

15 gruelling minutes and he had made it to the top! We learned later when looking him up on the news that he had managed to raise $7000. It was a special moment to see!