Dunedin is the second largest city on the South Island. Its name stems from the Scottish Gaelic language. Due to its Scottish heritage you can still find some traits from this past. The Scottish for example built some of the church in the city.
While it is a rather small city population wise, it has some nice historical architecture. Moreover, it hosts Otago University, the oldest in New Zealand, and about 20 per cent of its population is between 18 and 24 years old.
View from the Octagon
We flew over to the city from Christchurch and decided to check out Dunedin before starting our trip along the Southern Scenic Route. As we only had a short amount of time (our parking time was limited to two hours), we had a stroll around the most interesting buildings such as the Cathedral and the train station. Before our final departure we also quickly drove up to the Signal Hill Lookout.
The cathedral also known as St. Paul’s Cathedral was built between 1915 and 1919. Next to it you can find Dunedin’s town hall. This is the seat of the city council.
Its construction was split into two phases. The first phase being initiated by the population growth after the Otago Gold rush. However, first only a few offices were build, which were later complemented by two auditoriums.
The Railway Station is located by Anzac Square.
It was designed by George Troup and in its early years provided a link between Christchurch and Invercargill as well as some suburban connections. Its dark and light pattern is quite common both in Dunedin and Christchurch.
This is the first branch of the biggest bank in New Zealand which was first opened up in Auckland.
Bank of New Zealand
It started operating in 1861 and is thus unsurprisingly located in a historic building.
The First Church of Otago is located quite prominently in the centre of Moray Place.
First Church of Otago
It is Dunedin’s primary Presbyterian Church and was built during the nineteenth century.
The Signal Hill Lookout is known as being one of the best spots to enjoy great views of the city.
Apart from that it is also a memorial site, which serves as a reminder of the hard work of the pioneers.
Apart from the architectural highlights mentioned above, there are more interesting sites to explore in Dunedin. Here are some of our impressions of walking through the city centre.
Overall we were positively surprised by the city. Although it is quite small, it has some beautiful buildings to offer. Especially the Railway Station looks very impressive.
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Looks like a great city to wander around in… how many days do you think you’d need to explore Dunedin?
We only spent about two hours in the town and got to see quite a lot as most of it is in walking distance. I’d suggest spending one or two days there at the most and then heading towards the Southern Scenic Route. I also read that the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin is worth a visit, so you could probably check that out as well when you’re there 🙂
Great- thanks!
Similarities with the *other* Dunedin — or Dùn Èideann (Edinburgh) certainly!
You can definitely see the resemblance between the two!
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