Quick Drive Through Dunedin

I put together a quick little video to give a glimpse of the city of Dunedin (and a bit of the surrounding countryside). It is such an adorable little town. Being from Vancouver, we quickly noticed how many old buildings are still intact around the city. The railway station is probably Dunedin's most famous landmark, but there are so many amazing buildings (I quite like the old bank). The city is very European, with the "octagon" (lined with pubs, restaurants a theatre and the art gallery) marking the heart of the city. We live up near the top of the hill and get a great view of the bay from neighbouring streets. While Scotty has picked up driving on the other side of the road with very little effort, I have been pretty afraid to try (especially in the city), but we live less than a 10 min walk from the Octagon, so I've taken to wandering around the city on foot. I have found quite a few charming little shops (a vintage one that would make my friend Jac just die), but have stuck to window shopping thus far. Dunedin has a massive college population and, in the next month or so, will virtually clear out as all the college students head home for the summer (I still am so confused with the season reversal), but the city gets flooded with tourists every time a cruise ship docks at port Chalmers. Dunedin has a well respected design school (both fashion and interior, and yes, i have looked into classes, but I can't afford the HUGE international student tuition), and many of the shops reflect that. I've drooled over quite a few local designers' threads hanging in store windows.  To say the least, the creative centres in my brain have been piqued.

The surrounding countryside leading along the Otago peninsula explains why Dunedin is often referred to as a little Scotland (that, and the fact that it was founded by the Scotish- in fact, "Dunedin" is actually the Gaelic name for Edinburgh). Bright green rolling hills give way to sheer cliffs that drop off into the sea below and the wild vegetation is knotted and sturdy. On more than one occasion I have felt like I am taking in sights similar to what one might see in Scotland.

The video starts off very close to our hostel (up above the city) and in the middle we drive through the Otago Boys Highschool (it looks very old english). The beach is Sandfly Bay (about a 15-20 min drive from the city). Apologies for the shakiness, but it's hard to keep it steady while whizzing around in a car. I'll take pictures and go into more detail later, but we've been here nearly a month and I know people are eager to see what it looks like down here.

ps- the All Black just won the Rugby world cup and while it is nearly midnight here, the city just came alive. I can hear yelling and screaming outside my window and Brian and Scotty and blowing off fireworks with some of the boys.