Dunedin - the Scottish-looking capital of education

Note on pronunciation: in German I would spell it like this:

Dannieden :-))

We reached our next destination Dunedin, a relatively large city for local standards, known for its educational institutions, after a short tour along the south coast. First and foremost, the Otago University, but we also saw a tourism school, an acting school, and the Otago Boys Highschool, over 150 years old, built with Oamaru limestone. There's certainly much more to see.

We had booked a hotel for 5 days in advance, as Christmas in New Zealand marks the beginning of summer vacation and accommodations are often booked well in advance. It was also not a problem to fill the 5 days with activities, as there's plenty to see in Dunedin.

First, we explored the city center. The cityscape is characterized by Oamaru stone buildings and the Scottish tradition of the early settlers here. So there are plenty of old facades, the most impressive being the huge train station building with a meticulously maintained green area in front of it, as it often is here. Noticeable is also the large number of pubs and cafes, often with live music in the evenings. The nationally known Speight's Beer is brewed here as well, of course there's a brewery with good food, and overall we quite liked the gastronomy here, although unfortunately some places were closed due to the holidays and vacation season. Much is influenced by the student life here, creatively designed with simple means, and we often encountered street musicians. And many ugly walls were adorned with large graffiti artworks. A really beautiful city with a great atmosphere.

Also worth seeing was the museum right next to the train station with a nice exhibition of all kinds of household and automotive items, as well as the Botanic Garden, especially the rose garden as always. Dunedin is a very hilly city with extremely steep streets in some parts, so there are always great views of the city and the sea.

But the surrounding area is also not to be neglected. Just a few kilometers away, you can go swimming at the large sandy beach or explore the peninsula with its seals, visit Larnach Castle in a spectacular location, or simply take a historic train trip either inland or along the coast. We definitely enjoyed the train trip with the Seasider along the coast. So the 5 days here flew by.