New names for things

Shopping trolleys are “trundlers” and speed-bumps are “judder bars”. If you want fish and chips, go to a Chinese restaurant (most of them also do f&c).

Dunedin doesn’t need vehicle inspections — if the vehicle isn’t mechanically sound, the terrain is pretty much guaranteed to kill it in short order anyway. I went “cycling” up City Road and spent all of the uphill journey walking, and at least 80% of the downhill journey. Perhaps on a real mtb with real brakes that I was prepared to burn recklessly, but not on my newest fleet acquisition, a “WorldRider QuickShifter” ten-speed (with white-wall tyres, no less, d’ya wanna cruise the miracle mile? It’s still a set of wheels to me :-)

There is a KMart (a whole shopping centre) a block away from the backpackers. There are also a whole sheaf of restaurants: Phillipino, Korean, Sushi, The Original Robbie Burns Bar (with jazz), one of the aforementioned Chinese+FishAndChips, a roof-level steakhouse, all manner of stuff gathered around the top end of Frederick Street. It’s quite close to the Uni, for convenient conference repasts.

The Uni is quite scenic, although parts of it are off-line for repairs. The poetically-named Water of Leith flows through it, and flow it does. None of this languid tricking, not for this waterway. I’ll post photos presently.

The weather has been very Melbourne today. Sunny one moment, soggy the next. Keep your wet-weather gear handy. One thing the conference needs is a tour of the Cadbury factory, which is where the first downpour ambushed me.