We spent the day seeing some of the sights of Dunedin: St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, the nineteenth century railway station, New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, Settlers Museum, Chinese Garden, Presbyterian First Church, harbour area and the world’s steepest street.
One of the interesting items in the cathedral was this beautiful pulpit which is held up by slim legs made of pounamu or greenstone, the New Zealand jade. On the other side were three inlaid stones, all of them originating in Britain, from St Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury, St Columba‘s Abbey in Iona and St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
What do you think this was all about in New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame? Well, apparently wood chopping used to be a spectator sport as well as an occupation, and Ned Shewry was a champion, competing between 1911 and 1934, winning three world titles! They say it would have taken him about thirty seconds to have chopped his way through this log.
The Chinese Garden was only opened earlier this year and commemorates the contribution of the Chinese community to the city of Dunedin. There were some flowers and trees, but much of its beauty was the in lake, waterfall, mosaic-type paths, the architecture of the buildings and the general layout. The whole place had a lovely aura and was very peaceful.
The world’s steepest street, seemingly, is Baldwin Street in North Dunedin. We drove there and walked up it for just a few paces, on a fairly shallow gradient. My excuse for not going any further was that my back is still giving me problems and Dave, of course, wouldn’t have wanted to have gone up without me!
Jean
