Day Fifty Nine Studentville

My walk today took me around the streets surrounding the University of Otago past many of the student flats.  Today I walked 10 streets.

717. Ellis Street
718. Howe Street
719. MacKenzie Street
720. Moat Street

721. Brook Street
722. Castle Street North
723. Leith Street North
724. Montgomery Avenue
725. Union Street West
726. Union Place

I walked around the North Ground which is a sports field between the two one ways in the north end of Dunedin.  The autumn colours look great at this time of the year.

I walked over the Water of Leith again and followed it around behind the student flats and the side of the Dunedin Botanic Gardens.  The Water of Leith, also known as Òwheo, is contained by concrete sides which help contain the river during heavy rain and flooding.  Today it is flowing peacefully. 

Once past the student housing, I walked the streets that connected the University of Otago with the city.  The University of Otago accepted it's first students in 1871 making it the oldest university in New Zealand.  The University clock tower is the most recognisable building on campus and features in many graduation photos.

While there are parts of the university that date back to it's beginning, there are also newer buildings that have been added as the university has grown.  It is interesting to see how the different styles fit together.  Within sight of the stone cock tower is this modern glass building. 

The Water of Leith flows through the heart of the University of Otago where there has been a lot of work done on flood protection over the years. 

 Today on my walk I past the Otago Museum which was opened in 1868 and over the past 150 years, the museum has one of the largest museum collections in New Zealand with over 1.5 million objects.  The museum houses artifacts not just from New Zealand but from around the world including an Egyptian mummy, complete whale skeleton, animal attic and live butterfly house.  

Near the Museum is the historic North Dunedin Post Office which was built in 1878.  When the post office moved across the road, the museum took over the lease of the building and it often houses special exhibitions. 

One lovely old building that I walked past today is Selwyn College which was opened in 1893 and is Otago's first residential college. It was not until 1983 that women were allowed to live at the Selwyn College.

Students at the University of Otago are affectionately known as "scarfies" and this name dates back to the 1960's when it was common for students to wear long scarfs often because their flats were so cold.  In the 1930's students began naming their flats and today that tradition is still alive with over 600 weird and wonderful names.  Flats are often known by their names rather than their address.   Below is just a few of the named flats that I walked past today. 

One notoriously named flat  that I walked past today is 660 Castle Street.  This is where the New Zealand band Six60 was formed in 2008.  The founding members of the band were all flat mates in 660 Castle Street and they took their name from the address of their flat. 

There is some impressive public art in and around the student flatting area.  The paintings cover whole walls and are great for covering up walls that were prone to graffiti.   

There is also some graffiti on the sides of the concrete walls containing the Leith.  Some of the graffiti is very well done so while it is not official art, I thought it was worth taking a photo of.

Finally I thought I would share the google earth image of the streets that I have walked so far.  I have walked all the streets in red.

Distance walked:  7.8 km      Walking time   1hr 23 mins    

Total distance: 463.9 km       Total walking  87 hr 08 mins 

 

Day Fifty Three North Dunedin

With winter coming, the evenings are getting darker earlier which means that I won't be able to continue walking so much after work.  I walked 11 streets tonight.

663. Park Street
664. Drummond Street
665. Kyber Pass
666. Queen Street

667. Small Street
668. George Street
669. Warrender Street
670. Quentin Avenue
671. Inverleith Street
672. Willowbank
673. Regent Road

I started by walking up Park Street,  and then was rewarded with a couple of short streets that didn't take long to walk.  I was then onto Queen Street which borders the student housing area and it was noticeable with the amount of rubbish and wheelie bins left on the streets. Some of the student flats are lucky with the great views that they get looking over other student housing in North Dunedin

The further I walked along Queen Street, the views changed to looking up North East Valley and Opoho.  There is very little off street parking and what parking there is, is crammed with cars.

Once I reached the end of Queen Street, I was able to finish walking George Street.  George Street is the main street of Dunedin and starts in the Octagon, finishing at the Gardens.  

 

George Street is 2.5 kms in length and it is good to be able to tick it off as being completed. Looking north on George Street towards Pine Hill and Mt Cargill that is (sadly) covered in fog)

As I walked back to the car the city lights came on.  Over the past year the Dunedin City Council have been replacing the street lights with LED lights. There are approximately 15,000 street lights in the city and it is expected they will all be replaced by the middle of this year.

It was starting to get quite dark by the time I had walked back to where I started.  The night sky was a lovely shade of pink and blue. 

There were a number of interesting parts of my walk today and one of them was walking up Small Street.  Not really a street as there is no vehicle access but like Steep Street that I walked the other day, Small Street has a street sign so I walked it  and I am claiming it towards my total of completed streets. . 

 

Another interesting part of my walk that I had never really looked at before is the bridge over the Leith on George Street.  I have been across this bridge often in a car and walking but never really stopped to look.  George Street stopped at the banks of the Leith until 1903 when the bridge was built.  With the bridge in place, it opened the door to urban development of North East Valley, Opoho and Pine Hill.  

I  walked past some great street art today.  Under the over-bridge on George Street is a good rendition of the University of Otago clock tower. 

The awesome Nelson Mandela was on a flat in Queen Street and the wonderful Freddie Mercury was on another flat, also in Queen Street.

And the final flat was painted in . . . .I'm not sure what style you would call it but it is very well done.

Other street art that I walked past was these two telephone cabinets.  Sadly these are the first painted cabinets that I have seen with graffiti. 

Today I walked past a number of beautiful older homes.  These Victorian terrace houses were built in 1897 and are now student flats.  There is the cute historic stone cottage almost completely covered in vines and the historic stone house that has recently had it's roof restored. 

 

Student flats in Dunedin have been named since the 1930's and the names have become a bit of a tradition to the extent that flats are not known by their address but by their flat name. Around 600 flats boast names and now that I am walking some of the streets around the student area, I am seeing more of the flats with names.

Distance walked:  6.1 km      Walking time   1 hr 10 mins    

Total distance: 422.2 km       Total walking  79 hr 36 mins