Sunday in Dunedin

Although we were discouraged by our failed attempt to go to church, the fact that we had managed to find our way back to the motel may have given us a false sense of security in our ability to navigate. We changed clothes, and started walking in what we believed was the general direction of downtown. It wasn't.

After wandering around in residential tracts, we wandered into a little convenience store, talked to the clerk there, and decided to call a cab. This part actually went quite well. Our cabbie was prompt, got us right into town at a reasonable price, and gave us helpful advice about getting back when the time came. Every now and then, something has to go right.

Dunedin was founded in 1841 by the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland. Their spiritual guide was the Reverend Thomas Burns, a nephew of the poet Robert Burns. That statue in the town center is of Robert Burns.

The Scottish influence is felt in other ways. Dùn Èideann is the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. Chris told us that Dunedin was planned following the basic design of Edinburgh, including using the same street names. However, the street names were not used in the same order, so maps are not interchangeable.

We had the cab take us to the Octagon, because it is the center of town, and so an easy starting point for getting around. It worked out even better than we thought. You have the statue here, and a small park area, but many attractions are just a stone's throw away, so we were able to see a lot in a short amount of time.

We started out at the Art Gallery. In addition to the art exhibits, they have a video library where you can see historic footage, documentaries about the area, and even works by local filmmakers (they had a large Peter Jackson section).

Next, we started off towards the First Church Otago. Under the architect's original design, it was going to be a beacon on the hill. While he was away, they moved it, considerably lower down. This was quite disappointing for him, but it is still a very pretty church, and probably easier to get to this way.

Going down one more block we arrived at the Settlers Museum, and took in the exhibits. I think we ended up being most intrigued by the transport gallery. In addition to vehicles from several eras, you could see early drivers training videos. It was just kind of a fun departure from the typical museum exhibit.

Exiting the museum, we had a choice to turn left or right. We sort of intended to go to the classical Chinese garden, and we thought right looked more promising for that, because all we saw to the left was a shopping center. Well, it turns out the garden was left, just set back from the road. We had heard mixed reviews on it anyway, but I think the real issue is that some people like classical Chinese gardens and some don't. If you like the Portland one, you would probably like this one and the one in Sydney. It's just a guess.

Now, I can't say that going right was a mistake, because suddenly everything else is right there. We had explored this area a bit with Chris the previous day, but we were able to go over it again at our leisure. Here you have the historic courthouse and jail, the Cadbury factory, and the Dunedin Railway Station.

The station is quite famous, and commonly referred to as either the most photographed building in New Zealand, or the second-most photographed building in the Southern Hemisphere (following the Sydney Opera House). In addition to the elaborate gingerbread architecture on the outside, there are all sorts of flourishes on the inside, from mosaics and stained glass to wrought iron work and statuary. Tour trains still depart from it, but is has very much become a tourist attraction more than a working train station. There is even a sports hall of fame on the second floor. I would have liked to have taken more pictures of it, but my batteries were running low, again.

That was pretty much our last stop of the day. We casually worked our way back up to the Octagon, caught a cab back to the motel, did laundry, ordered pizza, and watched the Simpsons movie on TV. Monday would be Queenstown, and Tuesday we would head back to the States. Our trip was quickly coming to a close.

I have to say, Dunedin is a lovely spot, with a lot to do, and on those grounds I recommend it. Still, and this may be heresy, I think the Octagon looked more like a hexagon. Maybe I just needed to stop and count.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunedin
http://dunedin.art.museum/
http://www.firstchurchotago.org.nz/
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/otago-settlers-museum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunedin_Railway_Station