March 12-14, 2021
On a bright and sunny day we boarded an Air New Zealand jet and flew from Auckland to Dunedin in the South Island. Along the way, we enjoyed some incredible views of New Zealand, including some spectacular views of the Southern Alps and New Zealand’s highest mountain, Mt. Cook (Aoraki in Maori).
With a population of just under 130,000, Dunedin is New Zealand’s sixth largest city. Its name comes from Dun Eideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Appropriately, there is a decidedly Scottish feel to the town and there are some wonderful old buildings.
The main shopping street is George Street, which resembles many New Zealand retail avenues with its verandas.
Social life centers around the Octagon, a circle at the center of town lined with bars and bisected by a beautiful covered walkway.
While we were passing the Octagon we noticed that they were showing the latest America’s Cup race live on a big screen so we stopped to catch the end of the race. We are happy to report that New Zealand won, although as we write this, New Zealand and Italy are deadlocked at 3 races apiece in the first to seven series.
Our good friends Howard and Carolyn had also flown down from Auckland so on the next day the four of us set out to explore Dunedin and some of its surrounding areas. We started in the seaside suburb of St. Clair. St. Clair beach has been called “Bondi without the crowds” and it is easy to see similarities with the iconic Sydney beach. It even has an Oceanside salt water pool similar to the one at Bondi.
From St. Clair we drove over the hill to nearby Tunnel Beach. It is one of the most beautiful places that we have seen anywhere and is definitely a must-see if you are in Dunedin and are up for the challenge of the challenge of the steep pathway that takes you there. It takes its name from a narrow tunnel down to the beach.
From Tunnel Beach we drove up to New Zealand’s only castle, enjoying spectacular views along the way.
Larnach Castle, sitting high on a ridge of the Otago Peninsula was built by William Larnach in 1871-1874. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens.
From the castle we drove further out to the tip of the peninsula to see the albatross soaring along the cliffs by the world’s only mainland breeding colony. They truly were a majestic site sailing along effortlessly while other lesser birds frantically flapped their wings to stay aloft in the strong winds.
Speaking of gliding effortlessly in the wind, we stopped off at the Portobello pub to watch the kiwis beat the Italians in the latest America’s Cup race.
It’s the first pub that we have come across that specifically welcomes breastfeeding.
On our final morning in Dunedin we visited Baldwin Street, recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the steepest street in the world. We parked at the bottom and walked the 350 meters to the top. Unfortunately, the photos do not do justice to just how steep it is.
On the way up we met these two women who were touring the South Island with their ten incredibly well behaved dogs.
Mal and Lauren 