Dunedin, New Zealand (Aotearoa)
45° 51' S 170° 30' E
Dec 31, 2003 09:31
Distance 0km

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Happy New Year!

Text written in: English

Well, Dunedin isn't much of a party town during the summer holidays, unfortunately -- we found out when we got here that it's a very student-centred town and apparently most people who *are* still around during the summer head out to Wanaka or Queenstown to ring in the New Year. We picked up some wine and thought we'd have a few drinks with people at the hostel before heading out on the town, to find whatever it is people do 'round these parts at the big midnight. But our hostel made us an offer we couldn't refuse -- they asked us if we'd be night wardens, staying in to make sure no one set the place on fire and to take care of lockouts and wandering drunks and whatnot. In exchange, they offered to refund us the cost of three nights' accommodation. We couldn't refuse. And so, settling in for what promised to be a very unexciting Dec. 31 - Jan. 1, we were surprised to note that no one who was partying in the lounge seemed to have any intention of leaving. As it turned out, about a dozen people stuck around until about eleven-thirty and came right back before half past twelve, so we still had a good party -- especially since we could see the fireworks quite clearly from where we were. We counted down in our best New Zealand accents ("teen, noin, ait, seeven...") and toasted the New Year moments before being invaded by lots of very drunk Germans, who immediately began blasting AC/DC, headbanging, and dragging us into elaborate thrash dances. All in all, it was a good time -- though I'm pretty sure night wardens aren't supposed to have that much wine.
We had a bit of a scare in the morning when we couldn't find the camera. Turns out one of the Germans had found it, decided that someone would probably steal it if it was left where it was, and helpfully taken it back to his hostel with him for safekeeping. It took a while, but we found out where he was staying and got it back.

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Photos / videos of "Happy New Year!":

Random headbanging, inebriated German. The Germans made us fast friends -- especially because Matt knew all the words to AC/DC's songs. This Random headbanging Germans. An in-depth discussion of the problem of music selection. It was decided that the only possible solution was more AC/DC. Ever seen a drunk German play air guitar on a stuffed giraffe? Neither had we.
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