With all the activities we've been cramming in recently what with trekking up mountains, driving for hours each day and sleeping in a different town every other night, it was only a matter of time before our bodies called a time out. Mine gave up on me just as we got to Dunedin.
Much to my disappointment I stayed behind whilst the others explored the town, checking out the museums and the world renowned Cadbury Land. You know you're ill when you can't get out of bed for chocolate!
Our accommodation, which we'd found listed on the usual hostel site, was in reality more like a large deserted manor house and although it was quite cute during the day, it creeped the hell out of us at night. Needless to say I was pleased when the others arrived back before dark, particularly as they came bearing edible gifts.
The Cadbury treats obviously did the trick because I woke the next morning feeling a million times better. In fact, I was feeling so sprightly that when the girls announced their plan to visit the steepest street in the world I decided to join them. I hadn't planned to actually climb it but when we arrived I couldn't resist.
Baldwin Street is approximately 350m long and has a maximum slope of 1.2.86. If, like me, you have no idea what that means (I can only quote the sign) just trust me that it's really, really steep. From the top we got a great look over Dunedin which was handy for me as I'd seen so little of the town.
Whilst admiring the view we noticed that the same man had now passed us three times, repeatedly walking up the hill and then skipping to the bottom. He looked completely insane but at the same time it looked kind of fun so we gave it a go ourselves on the way down. At the steepest point our skips turned into an unintentional sprint as our little legs raced to keep up with gravity. Soon everyone around us was following suit and the insane skipping man looked very pleased with himself indeed.
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