Today’s trip was the largest we have had on the 100 Trips programme so far, with over 40 people in attendance! The OTMC led a trip through Dunedin’s town belt in conjunction with Wild Dunedin as part of the annual Festival of Nature, which saw more than two dozen non-members join us for the traverse from the Southern Cemetery to Woodhaugh Gardens. It was a perfect autumn morning - clear and crisp with not a breath of wind. After checking everyone off the list and giving the necessary health and safety talk, we set off through the Southern Cemetery. This trip was ably led by the knowledgeable and entertaining Antony Hamel and it soon became evident we were in for a fun trip.
We began on a slightly morbid note as we took a detour to check out Antony’s favourite graves in the Southern Cemetery, however it was fascinating to hear the tragic stories. One grave was that of the Campbell family, who, in 1863, were on the last stretch of their three month voyage from London to Dunedin for Rev. Thomas Campbell to take up his role as the first rector of the Dunedin High School (now Otago Boys High School) when the ship they were travelling on, the Yarra, collided with a paddle boat off Sawyers Bay and sank. 13 people drowned that day, including Rev Campbell, his wife Marian and their five young children. As they were immigrants they had no family in Dunedin, however in true southern style the city embraced them and 2000 people turned out for the funeral procession - nearly the whole population of the new Dunedin settlement at the time!
After exiting the cemetery, we had the slog up Eglinton Road to Unity Park ahead of us, which thankfully passed quickly as we chatted away to both new and old friends. We regrouped at Unity Park and heard the story of Admiral Byrd who is immortalised in a statue overlooking the city. Admiral Richard Byrd was an American naval officer and explorer who has caused controversy with his claims that he was the first to reach the North Pole by air in 1926. After receiving the Medal of Honour for his feat, doubts were raised as to whether he actually reached the North Pole or not and to this day historians still cannot agree to whether his claims are true or not.
We headed cross-country from here through the town belt, the damp autumn leaves on the ground turned out to be quite the hazard as they made the footpath slippery underfoot. We are incredibly lucky in Dunedin to have such a large green space in the heart of the city. The Dunedin Town Belt is one of only three Victorian town belts in the world and provides the city with over 200 hectares of native bush. It was originally conceived when the settlement of Dunedin was being planned in the 1840s in Scotland with the idea of having a divide between the city centre and the suburbs.
Our guided tour continued through several more notable places such as Queens View and the beautiful Olveston House. After meandering along Queens Drive, we arrived at our final point of interest, Prospect Park. At Prospect Park, we paid our respects to the late Ben Rudd, with whom the OTC forged a strong relationship and eventually purchased his property on the hills of Flagstaff which the club still manages to this day. Antony Hamel read a poem written by Charles Brasch titled Ben Rudd aloud and with feeling.
From here we headed down the Bullock Track to Woodhaugh Gardens and headed our separate ways - some had rides organised, some headed back to the start point by bus and some walked along the main street of Dunedin back to the Southern Cemetery. Five of us opted to walk along George and Princes Streets. Even though the terrain was flat, having to dodge pedestrians and wait for the pesky green man at the road crossings slowed us down considerably
It took us around 30 minutes to walk from Woodhaugh Gardens to the Oval, and to our surprise, we met some fellow OTMC members getting off a bus at the same time we were walking past. They blamed it on having to transit through the bus hub, however it just goes to show that walking can be a very time-efficient way to get from A to B!
by Jade Pettinger
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