Just a short walk from our Timaru hotel The Grosvenor (silent s in the pronunciation), the bus called to us to continue our southern journey. Next stop, Dunedin.
Pronounced Doo-nee-din, this is known as the southern island’s college town with a student population over 30,000. It's also referred to as Little Edinburgh with many street names reflecting the Scottish city.
Any place that prominently features unicorn sculptures is worth a visit.
Dunedin had the most city-like vibe to it of the places we had visited thus far. There were a lot of people on the street staying out late and bustling about. In our one full day there, we wandered around quite a bit. The Victorian influenced architecture throughout the town was nice and the free art museum was worth the visit.
A Maori kite in the art museum.
The Dunedin Art Project is a series of large murals spread throughout town and we spent some time seeking these out. I didn't take any pictures of them so you'll have to go there and find them yourselves. The train station was a nice quick visit and featured a large gallery of local artist’s work.
Victorian architecture and lots of churches are spread throughout Dunedin. And there are actual living people walking the streets at night.
Exterior of the train station. There is great stonework throughout the building.
The highlight of the city was the Chinese Garden. Opened just a few years ago, the garden was built using master designers and builders from China. Most of the materials were imported from China as well, including the massive stones used to create the “mountain” as the garden’s centerpiece. It was quite a stunning place and worth a visit and tour.
The feeling of being transported to another world is strong here.
Built using traditional techniques, no nails or screws were used in the construction. All elements were constructed by hand including the many, many thousands of roof tiles.
Wood details frame different scenes within the garden.
Hints of the city beyond the walls.
Also worth a tour is the Speight’s Brewery but I'll detail that more in a later post.
Dunedin was a nice city but our short time there came to a quick end. After a little confusion about where the bus was picking us up, we made our way to Invercargill.
We were told by several travelers that Invercargill is a “dump” and a “shit hole.” While not an amazing place, I didn't think it was all that bad. We were only staying for 30 total hours or so as a stopover to and from Stewart Island. The best part of the town were the two lovely people who run the Tower Lodge Motel where we stayed for a two nights. Ray and Dawn were super nice.
The Tower Lodge's namesake which is right across the street.
When we arrived, we needed some supplies for our upcoming Great Walk. We were asking directions from them when the sky just opened up. Dawn refused to let us walk to the supermarket in the downpour and gave us a ride. After that, she took us to the bottle shop because, unlike the rest of New Zealand, you can't get beer at the grocery store. We grabbed some beer for us and she nabbed a case of shots for her and her friends. Yes, a case of shots.
They seem really concerned about people drinking too much here. Not sure why that is.
When we returned, she insisted that we watch The World’s Fastest Indian based on the story of Invercargill’s Burt Munro and the land speed record for his Indian motorcycle. It was a good recommendation and we would see it again a few weeks later on the bus to Fox Glacier.
After we got back from Stewart Island, she upgraded us to the Honeymoon Suite. When she told us, Melissa definitely didn't pull a horrible embarrassed face. Definitely not. It had a hot tub and was really large and comfy, so I was just fine with the whole thing. Like I said, really great people.
Look! We found a bar! Speight's is served just about everywhere. It's the Budweiser of New Zealand. Except they actually make some good brews and their restaurants are nice.
Aside from that, not much else to say about Invercargill. It has a big water tower, a few bars, and all of it's phone and electrical lines are underground and not an eyesore like in so many other places in the world.
These were just stopovers on our way to Stewart Island and a crazy ferry ride and lots of rain and mud and birds. That's coming up next! Stay tuned.
P.S. There is a Cadbury factory in Dunedin. It's a big, ugly building but...CHOCOLATE TOURS!!!