I am having a difficult time adapting to southern small town living. Firstly the weather, I never seem to get warm, ever! Also the people are quite different and I am having to learn a whole lot of social nuances which I’ve never been very adept at. The kids are slow to settle in at school and kindy. My oldest who used to LOVE going off to school now hates it. It all makes writing /blogging difficult.
I really am trying to adapt but really its a constant struggle. My short weekend trips into Dunedin are the saving grace. There is the rush to fit everything in before scooting home and straight back into domestica, but there is always so much to do.
This weekend I stopped by the awesome University Book Store (UBS) and splashed out on some great sale books. The Glass Houseby JC Sturm, New Dreamland: Writing NZ Architecture, edited by Douglas Lloyd Jenkins and Jane Ussher portraits. I could spend hours in that shop really I could.
Then off to the museum across the road. I wanted to check out the last days of Andris Apse’s Antarcticaphotos. I’d seen some in the Sinfonia Antarctica exhibition at the Dowse but altogether they made more of an impact. I love the Otago Museum and an illustration of why, was that there was a small step under a photo of penguins so that kids could step up to get a better look.
I was going to write a post a while ago comparing Otago Museumto Te Papa but that wasn’t really fair (comparing apples with oranges). A few observations though, my kids like this museum better even though its not directly aimed at kids or “theme parked”. OK maybe the butterfly area is a crowd pleaser but the associated stuff is educational and seems to please many age groups. Personally I like the traditional feel, in that you can look at tattoos and hair garments from the Marquesas and ancient greek pottery as well as the New Zealand and local Otago displays. I have two favourite parts – the Victorian “Animal Attic” and the People of the Worldgallery which has a current focus on collecting, collections and collectors including a display on Charles Brasch and his grandfather Willi Fels.
This is NOT a critique of Te Papa which is a different kettle of fish, but just how good the Otago Museum is at getting the details just right.
In my attempts at assimilation here I looked up some of Baxter’s Dunedin poems and with some help found this from Pig Island Letters (2) supposedly written with the Scroggs Hill area in mind (between Brighton and Mosgiel). Somehow it fits.
Her son is moodier, has seen
and angel with a sword
standing above the clump of old man manuka
Just waiting for the word
Tags: Apse, Baxter, Brasch, Lloyd Jenkins, Otago Museum, Sturm, UBS
June 29, 2009 at 6:11 am |
Today is so cold I don’t know what to do with myself! The wind is like a knife made with ice… This truly is a severe winter – they’re not normally THIS bad!
I’ve always thought of Mosgiel as a wasteland. When I first came to live in Dunedin there was a joke about it on student radio – first prize for some bogus competition was “one week in Mosgiel”. And Second prize was “two weeks in Mosgiel”.
You certainly make Dunedin seem glamorous with your descriptions of forays into civilisation. Everything is relative, I guess.
Rug up and drink more brandy!
June 29, 2009 at 6:34 am |
I’ll take your word for the weather. As you say it’s all relative ;-) Dunedin is indeed civilization for me
June 30, 2009 at 7:01 am |
When I was quite young I used to hide under the back seat of the car as we passed through Mosgiel – it used to make me feel “not at home” despite all the new homes that were being built (called “parade of homes”). Even then my sensibilities were not in tune with formica bench tops or multi-coloured (I kid you not) vibrapac homes. My parents used to laugh at me, then they built a colourful home…
I live in Sydney these days and increasingly wonder why. After a trip to the Inner West today, an area that can be incredibly ugly, I wouldn’t mind a vibrapac home in Mosgiel. And I’d give anything to live in a place that still has a sense of community – Sydney is fast becoming a lost soul. Dunedin may be cold (it has nothing on damp, bitter London), but it has a huge, warm heart – and everyone who visits loves the place, even when it’s freezing cold (in the summer).
June 30, 2009 at 7:07 am |
I love Dunedin but yeah I get a “not at home” vibe in Mosgiel