Day Fifty One CBD

 I decided that being Easter, it was a good day to walk the streets surrounding central Dunedin and the main shopping area while there weren't many people around.  I walked 9 streets today.

643. Cargill Street
644. York Place
645. Smith Street
646. Howells Lane
647. Filleul Street
648. Bath Street
649. Octagon
650. Princes Street
651. Tennyson Street

 

I started my walk part way up the hill so I could walk down towards central Dunedin and the city centre.  The views looking down to the harbour were a good chance for me to see how far the downhill I was going to be walking today.  

As I walked down the hill I was able to look over the city centre and the main shopping area.  This is the area that I planned to walk most of today. 

Once I reached the main shopping area it was easy walking along the flat.  The main street was relatively empty because of a combination of Easter and being too early in the morning for most people to be out.  

 

I like the views looking down Lower Stuart Street towards  Dunedin's impressive railway station.  I see this view every day on my home from work.

Once past Bath Street, I walked around the Octagon which is the eight sided centre of Dunedin and is surrounded by some of the most significant buildings in Dunedin.  First laid out in 1846, the Octagon was originally a reserve and has been developed over the years for pedestrians with bars and cafe's surrounding it's outer edge.  Often in the summer there are craft markets held in the Octagon.

After the Octagon, I finished walking Princes Street and then up the back up the hill to where I had started.  Half way up the hill, I was able to look back over the rear of Speights Brewery which I had walked past yesterday. 

My final view of the morning's walk is looking towards the tall buildings and cathedral bordering the Octagon.  This photo is good to show how close to the harbour the city centre is. 

On my walk today I walked past King Edward Technical College which was established in 1889 as a school that offered technical education classes such as carpentry, cooking, woodcarving, chemistry, dressmaking, plumbing and typewriting.  By 1955 King Edward Technical College was the largest in the country and in 1966 the college moved to be near the University of Otago and became the Otago Polytechnic with the secondary school part of the college being renamed Logan Park High School.  Today the lovely old building is looking a bit neglected. 

 I walked past two high schools today.  The first was Kavanagh College which is the only Catholic secondary school in Dunedin

 

 And the other  secondary school was Otago Girls High School which was opened in 1871 and is the oldest public girls high school in the southern hemisphere and the sixth oldest girls secondary school in the world. 

 

I walked past another of Dunedin's beautiful old churches today.  Knox Church was opened in 1876.  Knox Church is on Dunedin's main street and is on the edge of the CBD and University.  

Part of the charm of Dunedin's main street and shopping area are the old building facades.  As you walk along the street, the shops don't appear to be any different to each other but look above the verandahs to the shops across the road and you can see all the lovely old building frontages.  Each one had been restored and is different to it's neighbour.

Dunedin has a writers walk where plaques have been set into the footpath around the Octagon.  Each plaque has a quote and name of a Dunedin published author and is designed to highlight the city's literary history 

Again today I walked past a range of street art painted on the side of buildings.  There is such a variety of art in the central city that I am unable to show you everything but here are some good examples. 

Distance walked:  7.8 km      Walking time   1 hr 28 mins    

Total distance: 411.0 km       Total walking  77 hr 32 mins

Day Fifty City Rise

 Today's walk took me around the semi-industrial and housing area on the outskirts of the main shopping area of the city.  I walked 14 streets today.

629. Russell Street
630. Adam Street
631. Manse Street
632. Hope Street
633. Carroll Street
634. Stafford Street
635. High Street
636. Graham Street
637. Broadway
638. Duncan Street
639. Brown Street
640. Elm Row
641. Bishops Place
642. Bishops Road

I started my walk by finishing walking a couple of streets that I had started the other day It was nice to get good views looking down from the top of Duncan Street to the harbour and the hills of Waverley early in my walk.

Once down the hill I was walking streets that had lots of old and/or interesting buildings but the streets did not have many views.  It wasn't till I started back up the hill that I was rewarded with some good views of the city centre.  

The further up the hill I walked, the views changed from looking out towards Waverley to looking at the harbour basin and South Dunedin.

And as I continued walking up the hill, the views changed again  looking at South Dunedin and the Pacific Ocean. I enjoyed these views as I could see the streets that I had been walking over the past couple of days.

As I walked back to my starting place for the day's walk, I looked behind me and was rewarded with a good view of the tall buildings of the city centre, the harbour and hills of Waverley. 

On my walk today I passed two lovely old churches.  The first was St Joseph's Cathedral which was built in 1886 and is a very imposing building.  The other is St Mathews Church which is much smaller but no less impressive with  lovely stained glass windows.

 I also walked past Speights Brewery.  Speights Brewery is Dunedin and Otago's well known beer and was established in 1876 on it's current site.   Known as "Pride of the South", Speights Brewery also has beer tours and it's own restaurant. 

Part of Speights secret to brewing good beer is the water that it draws from a spring that flows under the brewery. There is a tap on the outside of building that has free spring water (not beer) for anyone that brings their own container. 

 Dunedin also has a lot of old buildings and houses.  There are quite a few that are not in the best condition but there is much more that have been well maintained or restored.  This is the Chief Post Office that has been turned into a hotel.

There is also the Bell Tea building that is not owned by Bell Tea anymore but is being earthquake strengthened with plans to turn it into apartments.

I walked past the Angus Motors building where the art deco facade has been beautifully restored. The building is a second hand clothing shop now. 

Built in 1862, The Crown Hotel is Dunedin's oldest pub that is still trading. It has live music every weekend and is opposite the Speights Brewery. 

As I walk closer to the central city, I am seeing more terraced houses.  Terraced houses are older houses of similar style and attached to each other. These are very densely populated streets with no room for off street parking.  

There was so much to see on my walk today. Dunedin  has a lot of street art painted on the side of buildings and it was everywhere that I looked today.  Below is some of what I saw on my walk. 

Distance walked:  8.8 km      Walking time   1 hr 40 mins    

Total distance: 403.02 km       Total walking  74 hr 44 mins

Day Forty Nine City

There was a lot of up and down today as the streets I walked today joined a few areas that I had previously walked together.   Today I walked 9 streets.

620. Maitland Street
621. Steep Street
622. Jones Street
623. Fernhill Street
624. Lees Street
625. Manor Place
626. Melville Street
627. Grant Street
628. Sutherland Street

I started my walk by heading down Maitland Street then turning onto Stafford Street to walk up to Eglinton Road where I had been walking about 6 weeks ago.  The top of Stafford Street is part of the start of the town belt and has open green space with views looking to the harbour.

On my way back to Maitland Street there were open areas between the trees with good views looking towards South Dunedin and the harbour basin.

Back at Maitland Street and it was all downhill.  Maitland Street is quite steep and has speed bumps to slow traffic down.  The residents of Maitland Street have good views of South Dunedin and out to the Pacific Ocean.

From the bottom of Maitland Street, I zig zagged my way back up the hill, walking up and back down streets that joined Maitland Street with Melville Street until I had  walked up to High Street. I walked a couple of short streets off High Street where I was able to look back over the area that I had been walking yesterday.  I could also see Mt Cargill in the background. 

Today I walked past the Crown Mill Building which was built in 1867 to house a steam driven flour mill.  The building was in operation as flour mill until 1997 when all production was moved to Timaru and Christchurch.  The building has been turned into apartments with a restaurant on the ground floor. 

Opposite the Crown Mill is the oldest free standing public toilet in New Zealand.  Built in 1912 the men's toilet has not been in use since the 1970's and has escaped demolition as it is a rare example of a Victorian public toilet still with it's original tiles and urinals.  The toilet is looking pretty sad now and is not open to the public.  

Not far from the toilet is the Workers Memorial which is a memorial to all the men and women who have been killed at work.  The memorial is a piece of Bluestone rock from Blackhead Quarry and was placed here in 2003 with a service of remembrance held here every year on 28 April which is  International Workers Memorial Day.

One unusual street that I walked today is Steep Street.  It is not a street that you can drive up (or down) but it has a street sign and is called a street so I walked it and am counting it towards my street total.  Steep Street goes between Maitland Street and Eglinton Road with the only access for the few houses is via the steps. It is one of the more unusual streets I have walked.

On my walk today I walked past the Oval which is a large sports and recreation field on Princes Street.  The first recorded sports game, a cricket match, was played at the Oval in 1864 and it is still a very popular place for weekend sport. 

I walked past two pieces of public art today.  One was this cleverly painted telephone cabinet of local female roller derby heroes.  The other was this bus shelter painted with native birds often seen around Dunedin.

 

  

 

Two of the more unusual things I saw today was a house with a silver fern on the roof (why?  I don't know but it was certainly noticeable) and the other was this  sign post that was a large, fat post that had the top power pole part cut off and the only reason it was left was just for the no stopping sign attached to it.  

And lastly I walked past Palmyra Reserve which is community housing that was built in the early 1970's, replacing substandard housing from the early 1900's. The substandard houses were demolished to make way for these Palmyra houses.

Distance walked:  6.8 km      Walking time   1 hr 16 mins    

Total distance: 394.4 km       Total walking  74 hr 04 mins 

 

Day Forty Eight City Rise

 Today my walk took me around the edge of the city centre and, in total I walked 9 streets.

611. Maori Road
612. Alva Street
613. William Street
614. Airedale Street
615. Serpentine Avenue
616. Maclaggan Street
617. Clark Street
618. Cannongate 
619. Arthur Street

 

The first street that I walked was Maori Road which is part of the town belt and is like a tunnel through the trees.  I then headed down Serpentine Avenue before walking along Alva Street which took me to High Street.  A cable car ran up and down High Street from 1883-1957 and was the most popular way to get from Mornington to the city until 1945 when maintenance of the line became an issue and eventually trolley buses took over the route.  Below are photos of High Street - then and now.

William Street gave me a good view of Mt Cargill which had been covered in fog for the last couple of days so it was good to be able to see it today.  Mt Cargill is easily recognizable with it's distinctive shape and TV transmitter on the top. 

The next street I walked along was Airedale Street which is a street I had never been on before and I was pleasantly surprised with the fantastic views looking down to Maclaggan Street, the city centre, the harbour and the hills of the peninsula. 

After Airedale Street, I walked down the hill to Maclaggan Street then walked a couple of short side streets which were surprisingly steep.  Clark Street certainly gave my legs a good work out but the views from the top gave me a good opportunity to look over some of the taller buildings of the city

And I got to look back to the top of Airedale Street where I had been earlier in my walk.

And lastly I walked Cannongate which is on the border of the city centre and is high enough to give the residents great views of the city looking over South Dunedin and to the Pacific Ocean. 

Dunedin has a lot of great public art where buildings and fences are painted by artists and I saw two very good ones on my walk today.  One is painted on the side of a plumbers with flowers and a kereru

And the other is the Motorcycle Club clubrooms. 

I also passed the old Horse Sale Yards building which was opened in 1889 and is unique as it is the only sale yards building known to exist in New Zealand as most horse sales were held outside.  The Horse Sale Yards is now owned by The Warehouse. 

Another old building I walked past was the Clarendon Hotel which operated as a hotel for more than 100 years.  I remember coming here in my younger days when it was a pub.  Now, no more drinks will be served as it has been converted to an apartment block

And lastly there is the High Street School war memorial gates which are made of Oamaru stone and were unveiled in 1921.  The gates are all that is left of High Street School which ran from 1887 until it closed in 2010.  The school site was sold and now apartments have been built but the gates still remain. 

Distance walked:  6.4 km      Walking time   1 hr 14 mins    

Total distance: 387.6 km       Total walking  72 hr 48 mins