On a day when images of the Otago University Students Association toga parade disorder were making headlines around the world, one Dunedin visitor, English broadcaster Dan Cruickshank, was wondering what to make of it all.
Arriving in the city on Wednesday when George St retailers were cleaning eggs, blood, faeces and vomit from their shop frontages, Mr Cruickshank said he was shocked to read of the antics.
"I am quite appalled by what I read, but I understand it was an aberration."
While Dunedin was on his itinerary for its "wildlife", the unexpected news of an egg-splattered main street proved too tempting to resist.
"That is where the action appeared to be. I went looking for it in the afternoon, but they must have done a marvellous job of cleaning it all."
Mr Cruickshank, on his first week in New Zealand, is writing for Lonely Planet magazine, recording a radio series for the BBC, writing for the London-based The Times, and blogging for the Daily Telegraph.
He was impressed by Milford Sound and Dunedin's architecture and wildlife: "By that, I mean the albatross and the penguins . . . not the students."
