Flying into Dunedin airport, I’m feeling really scared that I will be cold but also really excited. This is my first time in New Zealand’s oldest city and I am determined to soak up every bit of the art, culture and history, that the city has to offer.
Being Friday dinnertime, the first stop is the Speights Ale House of course. Here my companion Marcel and I make quick work of a hearty Southern meal and some cleansing ales amongst the original brickwork of this old brewery. Heading down a lane at the back of the historic Savoy building, we arrive at a chic cocktail bar called Pequeno. We are very restrained, staying for only one cocktail before retiring for the evening in order to be fresh faced for a day of site seeing.
Arising early, Marcel and I head down to the otago Farmer’s Market. Run every Saturday in a yard next to the historic Railway Station, we meet some fantastic cheese proprietors, eat a whitebait fritter and even some Chinese Dumplings – all before having a coffee.
For those of you who haven’t seen the historic Dunedin Railway Station, this is worth a trip to the city alone. opened in 1906, to deal with the demands of the Gold Rush, this grand station can be seen from all around and it is an impressive sight indeed.
Following this we spend the day soaking up all the fantastic art, fashion and culture that the city has to offer. Dunedin is amazingly prolific for a city of its size (120,000). There must be something in the water, for there is a range of fantastic music, art, boutique shops and high fashion that emanates from this city every year.
Starting at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, we took in a range of shows before having a reviving lunch at the gallery café Nova. We then check out the Blue oyster artist run space and Temple Gallery before hitting some of the shops.
For those who don’t know, some of New Zealand’s most famous designers come from Dunedin. I’m talking about Tanya Carlson and Nom D whose wares I checked out, but we also tempted our wallets in the fashionable – and curiously named- boutique Slick Willys. Exhausted from all the clothes, we take a look at The White Room, a furniture design store which features European style pieces. That night, we grab a burger and drink at The Velvet Burger bar and soak up the Saturday night atmosphere.
Sunday begins with a tour of olveston House in order to see how the other half used to live back in the day. Built between 1904 and 1906, the family who owned this 35-room mansion, bequeathed it to the city of Dunedin, complete with all of their original collections. Room after room of paintings, crockery, objects of curiosity and a thoroughly interesting back history of a Dunedin family.
Driving out to the beachside town suburb of St Clair, we have the best Eggs Benedict at Salt café that I think I have ever tasted. Correction, Marcel orders them and I promptly eat half of it. Delicious!
The afternoon is spent in a curious mix of crockery and nature, starting at the Broadbay China shop. Unfortunately, we only allowed ourselves 20 minutes to look through this fascinating place. You could spend all day in here if you wanted amongst all manner of crockery absolutely stuffing the shop to the brim. I was more than a little afraid of being a bull in this china shop.
But we quickly had to skip back out to the car in order to catch the Yellow-Eyed penguins. I am not usually a nature watcher but wandering quietly around all the underground tunnels and seeing this rare species close up as they returned from sea was a truly memorable and amazing experience.
That night was a sublime lamb meal at the Pier 24 hotel before falling fast asleep on the king size bed at the St Clair beach resort, with the blissful sounds of the waves crashing against the seashore.
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