Thursday, February 27, 2025 – Dunedin was founded in 1848 by Scottish settlers, whalers and gold miners. The city’s name comes from the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, Dun Eideann, pronounced duh-NEE-dn.
A gold rush in the region in the 1860s caused Dunedin’s population, and wealth, to increase dramatically and for several years it was New Zealand’s largest and most prosperous city. The ornate railroad station reflects that growth in wealth.
We started out by going to one of the highest points in the area, and it was breathtaking.
The next stop was the steepest residential street in the world — 19 degrees 😱 The town sponsors an annual race up and down. It’s not very long, but crazy steep obviously. All the contestants say it’s easier running uphill than down, mainly because it’s so steep it’s hard not to go too fast and lose control.
From there we saw another viewpoint and then on to the beautiful botanical gardens.
It’s also quite a college town with 8 universities, including a dental school that draws students from all over the world. The first university in New Zealand was started here. We stopped and walked around the very scenic campus area, I couldn’t tell if all the universities shared a central area or if there were others that we just didn’t visit. Anyway, it had a nice feel with a lot of very old and well-maintained buildings blended with modern ones.
Apparently, Dunedin isn’t in a fault zone are because many old beautiful buildings are still standing watch over the city, and in particular, the railroad station.
After our tour for the day was complete, we went back to the ship, had dinner and met up later for a show.
Travels with Nance 