Feb 10 - Heading to Dunedin

Pics to come......

It was a 6:30 7:30 8:30 morning. Our destination for today is Dunedin on the east coast, not Dunedin, Scotland or Dunedin, Florida, home of spring training for the Toronto Blue Jays.

We passed through farming country - saw lots of cattle and sheep.

We stopped for morning tea/coffee in Gore. I found a little café and got a date scone buttered and warmed up. That hit the spot.

The young residents of Gore are known as Gorons.

Saw lots and lots of motorcycles - the riders are likely on the way home from Invercargill. The movie “The World’s Fastest Indian” starring Anthony Hopkins tells the story of Burt Munro from nearby Invercargill (southernmost city in the world) who, despite all odds, set numerous land speed records for motorcycles with engines less than 1,000 cc at the Bonneville Speed Flats in Utah in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Burt Munro Challenge has been held every year in early February since its inception in 2006. The rally has grown into one of Australasia’s largest all-round motorcycle rallies.

Gore is well known for its connection with Country and Western music, with the annual New Zealand country music awards having been held in the town for 36 years. It has a sister city relationship with Tamworth, New South Wales, the "Country Music Capital of Australia”.

The Flemings "Creamoata Mill" is an iconic local building, with Flemings "Creamoata" brand of porridge once promoted by Flemings as the National Breakfast, and the mill itself considered one of the most modern cereal mills in the southern hemisphere. Production of all products was moved to Australia in 2001, and Creamoata was discontinued in 2008 after declining sales. Goodman Fielder claimed that the plant was no longer viable as it was operating at less than one third of its capacity. The building's famous "Sgt Dan" remains because rights to it have been purchased by the buildings current owner "Sgt Dan Stockfoods Ltd". The building has a Category I listing with Heritage New Zealand - it is sitting unused - so often the case with listed buildings.

We took the Presidential Highway from Gore to Clinton. Yes, those are real town names.

We passed through the town of Milton, site of a prison that was built with way too many creature comforts. With true Kiwi humour, it is known as the Milton Hilton.

We eventually arrived in Dunedin on another glorious, warm, sunny Kiwi day. Our luck with weather has been fabulous.

Dunedin is known as the Edinburgh of the South. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

It was settled by Scottish immigrants who were looking for somewhere to establish a new life with an emphasis on religion and education They rejected the Christchurch area as too swampy and left it for the English. The very small community set up by whalers and sealers became their choice - a very good one in retrospect.

After gold was discovered in the area, small Dunedin became a thriving commercial centre and recorded many firsts. The country's first university - the University of Otago is located here. The first NZ railway was here. The first telephone lines were here. The first girls' high school was here. Today's population is about 130,000 of which about 20,000 are university students who have been known to be rather rambunctious at times. In 2014 Dunedin was designated as a UNESCO City of Literature.もっと詳しく