Arriving in Dunedin

Monday February 25 was a travel day.  We woke up early and caught a local bus to the bus station.  It was cloudy and cool with a bit of rain.  We caught the 7:45 a.m. bus from Christchurch to Dunedin. The trip took just under six hours, but included two brief "comfort stops" and one 30 minute stop.  We went through some beautiful country and the sun came out a few hours into the trip.  We travelled along the coast as we headed into Dunedin.  The high was 16C.

The sun came out and the countryside was beautiful

Very neat hay
Lots of sheep


Lovely fields and trees
More sheep than we had seen in our travels


The coast
A view of the water


Sheep and hay

Dunedin is located at the head of Otago Harbour on the South Island's southeast coast.  It has a population of around 127,000.  It's known for its Scottish and Māori heritage, Victorian and Edwardian architecture, and a large student population. The University of Otago was just starting a new term and 30, 000 students will soon be in town.  Our bus made a stop at the University en route to the main bus station. The 'Edinburgh of the South' is proud of its Scottish heritage.  The name Dunedin is derived from the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh: Dùn Èideann.  The first permanent European settlers were two shiploads of Scots in 1848, including the nephew of Robbie Burns.  The city even has its own tartan!

We were very fortunate that Philippa (Pip), our host met us at the bus station.  She then took us to the supermarket where we got some provisions for our stay.  Dunedin is very hilly, so this was very helpful.  She is only a 10 minute walk from the main street in town, but her house is on a hill.  We have a separate entrance on the side of the house and a suite on the main floor.  The house has a lovely garden that we can use, but it will be a bit on the cool side for our stay.

Outside of the house

Garden in back
Back garden- furniture was covered


Kitchen and bathroom, though we are using her large kitchen upstairs to cook dinner
Bedroom as we arrived with our luggage

Alain leaving our side entrance- checking out the hydrangeas

We walked down town and I had my picture taken in my Blue Jays hat under the Dunedin sign.  No spring training here, and no blue jays, but we went to the I-Site Visitor Centre and booked a tour (bus and boat) to look for yellow and blue penguins and albatrosses on Tuesday.

Dunedin far from Florida
After our visit to the I-Site, we stopped for a very late afternoon appetizer--- cauliflower with cashews in a delicious sauce and some Allpress coffee.  We ate at Nova, the restaurant beside the Art Gallery, which had closed for the day.

Alain and food
We then walked down to see the Dunedin Railway Station, passing the imposing Law Courts on the way.

Law Courts
The Dunedin railway station was built between 1903-06.  It features mosaic-tile floors and beautiful stained-glass windows.  There are two heritage train journeys in 1920s heritage coaches that start at the Railway Station.
Grounds in front of Railway Station
Dunedin Railway Station-a real beauty


Sign outside the station- a long way to Edinburgh

Bit of history

Remembering Passchendale

Inside of station

More tiles and stained glass

Heritage train
Ticket booth



Staff who died in WWI
We walked along the waterfront--- passed an old prison, where one can take a tour.

Old Dunedin prison

Settlers' Museum, which we intend to visit
We had been told to check out Vogel Street where there is a lot of street art and beautifully preserved warehouses.  It was very quiet when we walked by at about 6:00 p.m.   The main street of Dunedin, George Street, is the usual jumble of stores we have seen around New Zealand-- nothing special and a bit run down.  The area around Vogel Street was much cooler.

Street art

Wonderful buildings

Another heritage building

OK....

This building in the early evening light looked like a Edward Hopper  painting

Alain meets sheep


More sheep

Boat under a ramp--- just got the Post Office truck as it was passing-- Post Haste (great motto)

Lots of colour

Penguins are everywhere in this town

Yikes!
Baldwin Street is apparently the steepest street in the world--- we will take a pass (not sure exactly where it is)--- but we did see this great sign outside a Chinese restaurant.  Superimposed penguins walking up the street.


Penguins and the Eagles

Global Warning--- folks in NZ take Global Warming very seriously

We wandered around town a bit more and then headed up the hill to our apartment.  Our host, Pip, was kind enough to let us use her large kitchen to cook dinner and we ate in her dining room.  Alain made a lovely dinner of red cod  (red and blue cod are very good in this part of NZ), potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes, and a green salad, of course.

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