New Zealand - Dunedin - T-Shirt Slogans and Non-Winterized Housing

"Dunedin - it's cold but cool!"

I kid you not. I cannot verify if this slogan is officially sanctioned by the town, but it's certainly on enough T-shirts. Not the most persuasive marketing campaign I've seen, however honest it may be. Especially since this week, we have really noticed just how far SOUTH Dunedin lies on the world map. This was brought to our attention because it's awfully crisp weather for just the beginning of autumn here. And we personally experienced the Antarctic weather patterns during our thwarted day at St Kilda beach:



Not to mention the sleet, snow and hail that made cameo appearances in last night's rainstorm (although some scientists are claiming a lot of the weird weather in Dunedin is after-effects of the bushfires in Australia, since the jetstream wraps back around to here after passing through there - I don't really understand the logistics myself).

And apparently only the extravagantly wealthy have central heating here, leaving the rest of the Kiwis to improvise on staying warm in the cold weather. How very unegalitarian. So Mike, Ashley and myself are on a mission to insulate the flat. Right now, it's a bit like living at the cottage at Lake of Bays... in January. We've put up blankets over the back door and the big window to cut down on the draft (which we can see pushing against the blankets), but it's not cutting it. And while space heaters are great for a band-aid solution of one hour of reasonable warmth, that's going to add up on the electricity bill pretty quickly once they're going regularly throughout the winter. Hence, we have begun a hunt for insulation related products. There was a great Saran Wrap-like film I used in my university apartment in Halifax that worked like a charm, but we're having some trouble locating it here. We're hoping the Mitre 10, NZ's Canadian Tire, may carry it, but of course when we scurried down there last night it was already closed! Our next best bet may be an invention called Thermal Curtains, but we are unclear what they do exactly and they don't create an air seal, so draft may still find a way. The mission continues...

I am definitely out of here before the real winter sets in. Best of luck to you, Mike and Ashley. Bundle up.