Smaills Beach
Smaills Beach is a wonderful location and a really popular beach here in Dunedin. It’s got a good surf break, there’s lots of wildlife and often you’ll find families playing on the sand dunes. Also, it’s a terrific spot for photos like night Aurora Australis hunters or summer sunsets.
The Otago’s hinterland from Flagstaff
Having spent a good period of time in the city visiting something that isn’t there and imaging what the most important building ever lost to Dunedin used to look like, I decided a walk in open space was in order. The most interesting and open spaced place I could think of that wasn’t beyond my lung capacity and would be achievable within 30 minutes was The Flagstaff Track.
It wasn’t soon after I started along the old bullock track up a short but steep walk up to Dunedin’s Skyline that I realised maybe a bush walk would have been more sensible. Before long the manuka scrub gave way to tussock land that stretched over rolling hills into Otago’s hinterland.
To an outsider I’m sure the meaning of The Flagstaff Track is perfectly clear. It’s a track that leads to where the staff of a flag was raised. They would be right of course, however it’s the purpose of the flag that seems to depend on which story you follow. Some definitions indicate that the flag signaled a ship had arrived in port meaning new supplies could be purchased. Other stories tell of when a flag was hoisted on Flagstaff Summit men would flock into the city in the hope of finding a wife.
Lavender in the Exchange
I went to the Exchange on a city Orbus Bus that sped it’s way along the busy one-way system and clattered through orange traffic lights with growing momentum. It was very thrilling. I like the Exchange very much. It’s got everything a public space needs to make it an enticing location to connect people to the wider city. There’s bars, restaurants, hotels, a casino, monuments, historic buildings, useful information points, street art, public transport and even a busker or two if you’re lucky.
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St Clair Sea Wall
The St Clair sea wall seems to be back on the agenda once again as the Dunedin City Council recently released information on the St Clair-St Kilda Coastal Plan. Among the plans are a redesigned seawall at St Clair, moving an old landfill away from Middle Beach and improved dune management and access at St Kilda beach.
Personally, and this is just me, I find it completely mind boggling that a landfill was put anywhere near the beach/ocean in the first place. It has to be argued that even a hundred years ago it wouldn’t have taken a genius to look at the landfills location and proximity to the beach and draw the conclusion that something could go wrong. One option that hasn’t been tabled, which I find a little disappointing is to import a family or two of Wombles to live in burrows around Kettle Park. Surely if wise old Great Uncle Bulgaria can’t sort it out, no one can.
Monday 1st March, 7:15am
Welcome to the 1st of March and autumn. There’s been an autumnal feel in the morning for a few weeks now. The air temperature has started to feel a bit cooler, it’s a tiny bit darker and the street lights seem to hang around for longer.
There were a few spots of drizzle with low cloud around this morning as I was out walking around. So, fingers crossed the day fines up. This is a 3 second exposureI took this morning as traffic headed along Great King Street. Have a good Monday everyone.
It’s a Kiwi Thing
There are many things New Zealanders love. If I had to name a few I would say walking and running on things, swimming in things and jumping off things. I would also add summer, trying to cook almost anything on a BBQ, the beach, Dave Dobbyn and Neil Finn, Pies, Ice Cream and Rugby. To be fair, not everyone likes rugby however you’ll generally find that people either talk about rugby, about how there’s too much rugby or about how they know nothing about rugby.
So, when you take a hot summer day and add it to rugby, thrown in a BBQ with a wee bit of music you’ll generally get a day that pleases a lot of people. This just so happens to be how I spent the day at the recent Spartan X’s, annual charity rugby tournament.
Otago Peninsula Fallen Soldiers Memorial
Why is it that I always seem to end up walking up hills? It could be that I enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of reaching the top. Or, it could be that as Dunedin is surrounded by hills there’s always a better than average chance that I’ll end up walking uphill at some point.
So it was that on a reasonably fine Saturday I decided to head up Dunedin’s 41 peg track from Tomahawk lagoon to the Soldiers Memorial on the Otago Peninsula. This seemed a simple enough plan, however it wasn’t till I was halfway up the first paddock that I realised it was all up hill! In hindsight this seems obvious however it really didn’t occur to me when I started out.
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I’m not entirely sure what the Octagonal contest is. I know it involves bagpipes but details beyond that I’m a tiny bit lite on. Having stumbled upon the contest in Dunedin’s Octagon, I thought I’d have a go at summing the whole thing up. Here’s what I know, and I must apologize as even in these details I’m making a few assumptions.
In Dunedin each year there’s a Pipe Band contest which is called the Octagonal contest. This involves Pipe Bands from around the South Island. From what I could gather, the bands spend a lot of time standing in a circle warming up by playing a tune and pulling strange faces. Each group then takes it in turns to walk down the street, stand in a circle and play the same tune as everybody else. While doing this, people (who I assume are judges) watch their feet and make lots of marks on paper before everybody claps and cheers. Once finished, the group moves off to discuss their performance while a few of the older gentlemen calm their nerves with a cigarette. This is then repeated by the next group.
On a side note, I would like to mention how mind boggling it is that people who smoke can play the bagpipes. Just how a smoker would have the lung capacity to play the bagpipes for an entire afternoon is quite beyond me. Another mind boggling fact is that the bagpipes are the only known musical instrument to have been used as a weapon of war.
Farm House with Athene Noctua
I spotted this little one happy resting on the window of an old shed between Tunnel Beach and Blackhead on Saturday. I wouldn’t have even knew to keep a lookout for it if it wasn’t for the Otago Daily Times. I loved the texture and age of the shed with the grass so much I just had to included them. Plus, I didn’t want to create a copy of the ODT’s image. I had planned to shoot this shed like this anyway so the Owl is a nice wee addition.
First Church, Dunedin
I found this awesome light hitting First Church here in Dunedin the other week just after 7am. I had loads of fun playing with the shadows and all the different ways the light was silhouetting the gothic structures of steeples and spires. The foundation stone for First Church was laid on 15 May 1868 but even before construction began, in 1862, the Otago authorities decided to lop 12 m from Bell Hill for the project.
Chingford Stables
I found myself walking through the gates of Chingford Park looking forward to a nice relaxing stroll. I put the thoughts of the campervan I had been following along a busy North Road at a frustrating slow pace to the back of my mind and headed for the tranquil surroundings of the park.
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Baldwin Street
Leaving the charm and beauty of Port Chalmers and the Hotere Garden Oputae behind, I now headed for the stables at Chingford Park. It had been some time since I’d seen the stables and the park itself and while I had the time, and the weather was nice, it seemed an ideal way to pass an hour or two.
To make my journey to Chingford Park (and the stables) more interesting, I decided to divert through the student quarter of the city. There really is no better way to make you appreciate your own home than to drive through large areas of student accommodation. I drove along streets with names like Forth, St David, Harbour Terrace and Dundas. Past flats with names like 8 Mile, TAB, The Asylum, The Bird Cage and The Playground. I navigated my way through an obstacle course of microwaves, tv ’s, washing baskets and mattresses until I found myself stuck behind a campervan. Now I don’t mean to be rude, but I hate having to follow campervans.
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Iona Church, Port Chalmers
I had been home from my trip to the Bay of Islands for nearly a week and already my feet were getting itchy. My newly purchased water blaster had proven to be a most useful investment and now that I had almost destroyed everything in sight, my wife was threatening to take the ‘damn thing off me’. I think the turning point had come when in an attempt to remove a flaking piece of paint from a garden wall, I had inadvertently taken out almost an entire garden bed. With my toy taken off me and my list of ‘I’ll do that job during summer’ not being very appealing, I decided a walk was in order. With that, I headed for the delightful harbour village of Port Chalmers.
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St Kilda Beach
I’ve recently discovered the joys of morning photography again. When I say recently, I mean the last seven days. I would like to put forward the argument that until now I never really had time in the mornings to think about taking photos however that would be a straight out lie. The fact is, I like sleeping in and being a creature of habit it’s too much effort to change my routines. So, having not so long ago changed jobs, I found myself with an extra few minutes in the morning last week and naturally I decided to fill that time chasing the morning light.
I had spent the earlier part of the week exploring the way old buildings in the central city as the first rays of light hit the old gothic structures that are a part of the Dunedin CBD. A few days later as the dawn broke on Thursday, I felt a yearning to see what the beach was like.
Having arrived at St Kilda Beach and parked my car a suitable distance from anyone else to avoid getting drawn into time wasting chit-chat, I changed lenses, adjusted camera settings and I happily stepped out of the car. I would like to be able to say it was a warm, still morning, but I can’t. That would be another lie! The sea looked a tiny bit angry, the wind a tiny bit annoyed and the temperature on the chilly side. If the morning weather was a person, you might say they seemed a bit miffed!
On a side note, and if you will indulge me for a moment, I do so like the words chit-chat and miffed. Oddly, these are words that for some reason make me smile. Try and use the words chit-chat in a sentence without smiling. I bet you can’t!
Thanks for reading today’s blog. If you like what you’ve seen and read, I’d love it if you could give me a like or share on social media. This will help your friends to find and enjoy more of the same content as you. Alternatively, leave a comment.
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To Walk In The Path Of Flowers.
One of the aspects of creativity that I really believe in is that of observation. Personally, I find creative thoughts really come alive after a period of observation. It might be walking down the street listening to music, it might be sitting quietly watching something, but once I allow my brain time to see what’s in front of me and for it to formulate its own thoughts, I know the creative process is well underway.
This is a photo I took at Dunedin’s Botanical Garden’s. I sat and watched the flowers for at least 10 minutes, just letting my thoughts and eyes go wherever it may. Occasionally the flowers would move in a breeze, occasional a bee would stop by. After a while I started to see textures and patterns within the flowers. I let my brain continue on that line of thought before setting out to create what my mind had seen.
Thanks for reading today’s blog. If you like what you’ve seen and read, I’d love it if you could give me a like or share on social media. This will help your friends to find and enjoy more of the same content as you. Alternatively, leave a comment.
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Boat Shed on Otago Harbour in Summer.
What a wonderful place New Zealand is during summer. The country comes alive with boats, surfboards, bikes, slushies and ice creams that drip onto the footpath. The days are long, the weather is deliciously warm and the summer evenings perfect for drinking a glass or two of your favourite drop while the air is filled with the smell of the classically Kiwi bbq sizzling away as the sun slips from sight.
Yes, it’s these idealistic and wistful perspective’s of summer I hold on to as I patiently wait for 9 months to pass and summer to roll around once more on December the 1st.
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And did those winds just blow.
The best thing I’ve read about creativity is Twyla Tharp’s book “The Creative Habit, Learn it and use it for life.” I’d read a lot of books on creativity but this was the first book I read that made a real connection with me. There are many passages in the book that spark my brain into gear. It’s hard to read it for long periods. If there’s one underlying view of creativity that I keep going back to it’s this:
‘Creativity is the product of preparation, effort and hard work’
Here’s an example, this is a boat I found on Otago Harbour and after looking at in silence for a while my brain clicked into gear I saw how I wanted the finished image to look.
Mā te wā (Bye for now, see you later)
John
Hale T-Pole has a close encounter with a local sealion.
It was early January, I was sitting watching the rain pour down across a city I couldn’t see, on a summer’s morning that felt more like winter. I was already beginning to regret my decision.
The problem was I’d recently decided to focus my blogging efforts for 2021 on travel photography. But, with heavy rain falling, I instantly noticed a few problems with my less than carefully thought out plan. It occurred to me that I couldn’t travel overseas due to the borders being shut and the time I had to travel around New Zealand was limited. The fact was dawning on me that I had effectively made myself a travel photographer and writer with nowhere to go. Did this mean I was now a tourist within my own home? As the rain fell I dwelled on this thought for a while. The one idea that I did particularly like was I would be able to tell people ‘I’m a tourist here myself’.
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Alleyway on Moray Place and Street Art by Phlegm (UK).
Happy New Year everyone, 2021 begins right here, right now!
This is my promise to you and hopefully the many more people who decided to follow my journey through 2021. I’m going to bring to you a unique blog post three times a week from my creative and curious mind. In 100 words or less (however I suspect I will view this word limit as more of a guideline than an actual rule), I’ll provide you with a unique, curious and creative view of Aotearoa and Ōtepoti as I explore the themes of culture, regional and social identity. After one visit, you’ll definitely be curiously motivated to return, as I photograph and write about life on a small island, in a small city, located at 45.52° S, 170.46°E in the South Pacific Ocean. These are the couristies of my island home.
See you every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Mā te wā (Bye for now, see you later)
John
Nothing is more comfortable than sleeping in your own bed. After being away for a few nights, I awoke feeling refreshed. I’d survived my Walk In The Snow, my Walk In The Badlands and A Walk In The Bush. Now, I had the day free to myself. With no plans and not having to be relatively useful to anyone, I decided a walk in town would be just the ticket. Besides, there was a Colin McCahon Exhibition showing at the Art Gallery which I very much wanted to see. With the day still young, I headed for Dunedin’s Lower Stuart Street.
See full post & more photographsI’d imagined Evansdale Glen as nothing more than a small reserve with an impracticable carpark, some scattered picnic tables, an ineffective rubbish bin and a small path leading up to some type of creek or stream. There’s an unwritten rule in Aotearoa that every reserve must be placed beside a waterway of some sort.
See full post & more photographsRecently, I found myself traversing a Dunedin street when I came across a sight that both frightened and scared me. While I resisted the urge to scream, I had to admit that I was a little bit scared. As it is, I’m not the only one to feel a tiny bit scared by what can only be described as an invasion.
See full post & more photographsIf I had to describe New Zealand to any overseas visitor, in 400 words or less, this would be it.
See full post & more photographsTwice a year, there are times when photography and writing have to take a back seat. One is late June, early July and the other is early December. It’s no coincidence that these times are when school reports have to be written and assessment data analyzed. Unfortunately, these tasks have been occupying my time and mental capacity of late. However, last week I managed to put these tasks to bed and turned my attention back to my newly created ‘Jacinda’s Law’ and exploring Dunedin.
Jacinda’s law states; where possible, we are to get out and see our own backyard. With this in mind, I recently found myself walking up a misty and muddy track on one of Dunedin’s surrounding hills. The beautiful thing about Dunedin is that it’s relatively easy to escape onto a bush track or path. From the city center, you can be on a bush track in 10 minutes if you wish.
Engulfed in mist, the track I was now on twisted and stretched up into the forest. Initially looking like a vehicle access track, it quickly narrowed. Continuing, gently falling rain collected in the autumn leaves which had created a blanket on the narrow bridge. Wet and muddy, with rain running into a stream, the track continued until deep grooves started crisscrossing the trail before me.
Suspecting the trail I was on was a mountain bike track, I now feared that I might get struck down at any moment without having the faintest idea of what hit me. Proceeding, but with a greater awareness of my surroundings, I continued on through the mist. I passed exit signs that read ‘No Entry, Rockin Roller Exit’ and ‘No Entry, Three Little Pigs Exit’. As I walked, it became clear that on this day, I had the area to myself. Feeling confident, and no longer worried about being bowled over by an adrenaline filled speed rocket, I continued. My concerns of having to arrive home with tyre makes across my back abated further when a sign appeared that read ‘No Chicken Lines, Don’t Ride Wet.’ Relieved, I spent the next hour exploring the surrounding tracks, jumps and paths that wound their way through the forest.
Feeling wet, I made my way back to the car as the mist lifted and the rain got heavier. Once again reaching the small bridge, I couldn’t help but get distracted by a casually ambling stream. It appeared from the thick bush, ran under the bridge and continued on down the hillside. I stood listening to the sound of the stream bubbling over rocks and branches. For a moment I forgot about the Dunedin traffic noise. That’s the beauty of nature, even silence has a voice.
Following on from my 2011 exhibition A Rugged Paradise, I was invited to hang a two months exhibition at Dunedin Airport as part of their ‘Artist in the Terminal’ programme in early 2015. The initial planning for this exhibition began in late 2012 with shooting taking place in locations around Otago during 2013 and 2014. After the two month run at the airport ended in March, 2015, the art works went on to be displayed in numerous locations around Dunedin before finding permanent homes across Otago. What follows is a rerelease of my 2015 exhibition, Silent Observations.
Exhibition Introduction:
I was 12 when I first started using my parent’s camera on family outings. I’ll never forget going to a four wheel drive rally and finding just the right spot to photograph the vehicles as they made their way through all sorts of mud puddles and then waiting excitedly for the local pharmacy to have the prints ready. Since then it’s been a constant search, looking for moments of beauty or action to capture for people to view and enjoy. I’ll also never forget going on summer holidays to all corners of the Otago region, and some of the sights still last in the back of my mind – recalled as I revisit some locations all these years later.
The only time I’ve really put the camera down is when I embarked on my teaching career that has seen me teach primary school both here and in the United Kingdom. These days I try and balance the life of a primary school teacher with the life of a photographer
Once I was well into my teaching career a shift happened between photography growing into a passion and the desire and aspiration to be more creative. Hidden within the cracks and spaces that separate passion, desire and creativity, a transition started to happen – a transition from Photographer to Artist.
At the moment, I’m increasingly viewing the world through an arrangement of shape, colour, angle, perspective and light. For some reason, I’m drawn to the notion of annotating and transcribing the world around me, not as a passive bystander but as an active participant who alternates between participant and observer, exploring and experiencing new places, sights and sounds. I also find that the notion of telling a story in a single frame, making the viewer feel something and documenting through images and words is highly intriguing to me. Rather than chasing the perfect shot, I’m interested in journeys, voyages and stories.
Silent Observations
This collection of images is based on the notion of Silent Observations. These Silent Observations happen in slow brain time, where looking is more important than doing. It’s a story, a moment, a time, a place, a feeling, a state of mind and a sense that time can stand still. This is my own wee corner of the world, where I share the stories behind my images while trying to seeking out and capture the still, silent and timeless places in New Zealand’s South Island. In a way all these images are my observations and annotations, the things I’ve noticed or will try to explain by way of viewing, watching and looking. My notes aren’t taken with a pen, they’re taken with a camera as I quietly watch the world go by for a while.
My images are about the human experience; the curiosity and inquisitiveness to explore; to feel and to hear. These are my stories, my Silent Observations of this life as I journey from place to place.
I hope you enjoy
John Caswell
There Grows The Human Spirit (2014).
White Island and Saint Clair Beach, St Clair – Dunedin.
If we could somehow bring William Thomson back to life, what would surprise him most- apart from being here at all – would be to find the wonderful and delightful area Dunedin’s town belt has grown into.
But, who is William Thomson? Well I didn’t know either until recently, but it transpires he was, above many other things, a lover of trees! He loved trees so much in planted many in the town belt around the area of Olveston. While he wasn’t solely responsible for all the trees in the town belt, he is responsible for many in the area.
In actual fact the town belt in Dunedin is one of New Zealand’s oldest reserves and is only one of three Victorian town belts in the world. Such is the importance of the town belt to Dunedin, the planning of it started on a map in Scotland that was probably stretched out over an old wooden table before settlers arrived in the 1840’s. As Dunedin grew as a city and the gold rush took hold, there became a need to protect and develop it’s green spaces which is where the Dunedin Amenities Society comes into the picture. By the end of 1888 the Society had 245 members (one of whom was William Thomson) and sought to involve itself in conservation and development of the new city including the town belt.
Skip forward to the year 2020 and at this time of year the temperature drops, the winds pick up and the town belt starts to take on a splendour of colour as the leaves change and eventually float to the ground forming a crunchy blanket on the ground. It’s one of Dunedin’s glorious (and often forgotten) places. William Thomson would be proud of his trees.
The Town Belt, Dunedin
One of the genuinely pleasant aspects of living in Dunedin is that not only are you never too far from anything, but you’re more than likely to bump into people you know at the same time. Usually these random social meetings are an altogether delightful experience as you exchange details about the wonderful spell of weather, how much the kids have grown up and if you are still working at your previous place of employment. I myself had such an encounter down at the esplanade recently when a voice called out to me, which turned out to be a local car dealer who sold me my Hyundai. After a few moments of conversation, I brought up the fact that the am radio frequency seems to drop dramatically in quality when heading out of town, to which he said he’d ‘look into it and get in touch. At the time, I remember thinking how appropriate it was that I was now asking questions about my vehicle, when at the time of sale, all we seemed to discuss was the fortunes of the Highlanders. It’s random social interactions like these that can be a blessing, if like me, you’ve still got jobs sitting on your ‘todo’ list that have been there since before Christmas, 2018!
What does astound me however is my constant ability to forget that places in Dunedin even exist. If I was living in a city the size of London or New York then this would be explainable. I’m certain that everyday in London people open the bent and heavily leafed pages of their A to Z guide discovering places that they had never heard of like Bollocks Terrance, Ha Ha Road and Hanging Sword Alley before popping into an equally unknown pub that is 400 years old and has the word white, king, royal or crown in its title. In Dunedin however, with a population of just 130, 000 I’m not so sure that’s as forgivable. By comparison, Dunedin’s population is the same size as Tonbridge and Malling in Kent and slightly larger than the English county of Cambridgeshire. Having made these discoveries, my astonishment turned to the realisation that maybe I need to get out more.
Having made the firm decision to get out around Dunedin, I turned my attention to finding one of the many art sculptures that are strategically located around the city that I haven’t visited recently. One that had been sitting on my mind was the Kuri/Dog sculpture. I eventually ended up at a place that I remembered having forgotten about, the Otago Yacht Club. If you’ve never been there it’s tucked behind some industrial buildings near Forsyth Barr Stadium and is home to not only a marina but a number of rowing clubs and a squash court. It also has a lovely running and biking track that in one direction takes you back towards the Harbour basin and the other along the harbour to the suburbs of Ravensbourne and Maia and Port Chambers. Once I arrived and abandoned my car I decided on two facts. The first being that on a fine, still day it would be an extremely tranquil and calm place to walk, bike or read the day away. The second being that if the wind was blowing hard down the harbour, it could be an extremely exposed and cold place to be. I, of course, had chosen the latter of these two days to visit.
My visit to such a location on such a windy day hadn’t been by choice, more bad judgement. Knowing full well that the sculpture wouldn’t be hard to find I spent some time wandering in and out of the various boat clubs, moorings and rowing sheds. After a good twenty to thirty minutes of curiously wandering I deduced that I know absolutely nothing about sailing and my personal vocabulary of nautical terms is extremely limited. I’m certain I would be of no use on a sailing ship and even less use in a pub quiz team specialising in nautical terminology. Having searched all the places in the immediate surroundings, I headed for my goal. A 3m-high sculpture by Stephen Mulqueen called Kuri/Dog which looks up towards the harbour entrance as a cultural guardian looking after Dunedin and the surroundings.
Now I don’t know about you, but this sculpture makes me smile for some unexplained reason. It also makes me wonder if Tonbridge and Malling in Kent has a large Dog sculpture looking out for its residents or maybe some other oversized animal artwork? It was at this point that I decided that I definitely need to get out more.
Kuri/Dog Sculpture – Order Print
It wasn’t until I got off the bus and started for Moray Place that it suddenly hit me. It could have been the Juicy rental car trying to do a u-turn in a very awkward way, it could have been the foot traffic seeming to be walking in the middle of the street or maybe the rather large, bright orange barriers blocking the street but something suddenly reminded me that the Octagon was closed for traffic. This information wasn’t altogether a surprise yet nor had it been at the forefront of my mind. To digest this not quite new information, I knew I would need alcohol, so I headed to the nearest bar. Once inside, I took up a seat where I could view the street from and began pondering what it all meant.
I couldn’t help but think that the Octagon closure might well be doomed before it began. After all, Dunedin doesn’t take to kindly to change. There’s a good list of ‘resistant to change’ examples hidden in Dunedin’s past. Going back to the 1850’s there were squabbles over matters between the Dunedin City Council and the Caversham Borough Council. In more modern times the new urban cycleways project has received much criticism over the last 5 years as did the newly created central bus hub. Not to forget the heated debate between Carisbrook and Forsyth Barr Stadium which seemed to deeply divide the city.
Watching people happily walk up and down Stuart Street I decided that I needed to find out more about this ‘Octagon Experience’ so I pulled out my phone and headed straight to the Otago Chamber of Commerce website. I discovered ‘The Octagon Experience’ is the brainchild of the Dunedin City Council who want to create/transform the area into a public space within the streetscape of surrounding business by making it pedestrian-friendly and so drawing people together (so they’re closing roads I thought to myself!). Upon further investigation I discovered that the full closure is happening from January 27th till February 16th with partial closures from February 17 until March 23. Maybe it was the beer but it took awhile for the realisation of what this actually meant to sink in.
Suddenly the impact of these closures hit me and I didn’t know what worried me more. Putting up with all the angry drivers that will inhabit Moray Place, forgetting the Octagon is closed and desperately try to find another route at the last minute, thus blocking traffic at one of the barn-dance intersections. Or, having to scroll past all the angry Facebook and Twitter posts about the chaos that will inevitably fill my streams. Either way, filled with dread and bracing myself, I finished my pint, opened Facebook and headed out the door.
Robbie – Order Print
It’s come to my attention that I have no idea where to get a good coffee here in Dunedin. This appalling state of affairs came to my attention when I realised that if I was asked ‘where’s good?’ I wouldn’t have the faintest idea where to suggest. Indeed my only advice to someone seeking a decent ‘cup of joe and a meal’ would probably have to be more based on a guess rather than imparting some deep local wisdom built from years of insider experience. In fact, the only establishments I possess knowledge of serve beer, pizza, a plate of chips and screen rugby. Having come to this embarrassing realisation, I decided that this situation needed fixing immediately
To help fill the void in my coffee culture knowledge, I knew I would need serious help. I decided to turn to the one person I know who spends a decent chunk of their time in the local coffee spots, my daughter Henessey (you might know her from her articles in ‘Critic’ or from Radio One or as ‘That Logan Paul Girl’). So after conducting some personal research and taste testing, with laptop at the ready and no established criteria apart from the question where’s good? We listed 15 places to get great coffee and food in Dunedin.
The Precinct – Buy
