Olveston – Ballroom.

Having spent the time rambling around the museum, I ventured up into the Dunedin hill suburbs to the stately home of Olveston. Spread over 1 acre of land, an original eight-room villa was purchased by the Theomin family on the Royal Terrace site in 1881. Twenty years later they bought an adjacent property and in 1904 they acquired another. This allowed the family to plan the building of a new house and garden over the three properties. Once the new home was completed in 1907, the four storey building featured reception rooms, a library, a kitchen, downstairs guest rooms, a galleried hall rising from the ground and to the upper floors which also served as a ballroom. There was a billiard room, a card room, numerous bedrooms, with the top floor being servants’ quarters and the basement serving as a large laundary. When I arrived, I was a little early for the next tour. So, I filled the time wandering around the lovely gardens which at one stage featured a substantial rose garden.

Traffic Lights on Lower Stuart Street

Leaving the Octagon, having completed everything I wanted to do for the day by 7am, I rewarded myself by going in search of breakfast. For no other reason than for my own amusement, I found a cafe where I could sit in the window and watch cars drive through red lights at an intersection.

Sitting and watching the world go by from my window seat, it really was quite astonishing and somewhat scary how complacent some drivers were. It was almost as if stopping at red lights had become optional! On one occasion I watched a car stop at a red light, pause while a bus went through and then simply carry on through the intersection without a care in the world. The behaviour of drivers was simply mind boggling, yet unfortunately not unexpected. A few years ago a study was conducted around Christchurch at 15 intersections across the city. What they found was that drivers ignored red lights 8170 times in a 24 hour period. That averages out to a staggering 340 times per hour that red lights were being disregarded, and that’s only at 15 intersections in Christchurch. Extend that out across the country and it becomes of pandemic proportions! To combat this a Regional Red Light Running campaign was launched whose main message was “Good drivers stop at red traffic lights”. Which in itself is just as mind boggling as I thought stopping at red lights was the law! Not just something that “good drivers” do! What is even more interesting is that failing to stop at a red light incurs a $150 fine. Compare that to the local Dunedin bylaw where failure to remove your dog droppings carries a $300 fine. Now it might just be me, but something seems out of balance there!

All of this occupied me in my window seat for some time. Long enough in fact for me to finish several cups of coffee and a fully cooked breakfast. All while observing the poor driving behaviour of my fellow citizens and a few ill-tempered and hostile Sea Gulls that were very angry at each other for one reason or another. Not fully aware of what the time was, I checked my watch and noticed to my surprise that a few local museums would be opening in the not too distant future. So, on that happy note I paid, thanked my hosts and headed off in the direction of Toitu Museum.

The corner of Queens Garden and Vogel Street.

Once upon a time the streets around Queens Garden and Vogel Street in Dunedin were some of the busiest in the country. Close to the city docks, the warehouse precinct as it became known developed into the heart of Dunedin’s wholesale trade. With some of the industries in the area being built during or immediately following the Otago gold rush, some of the older more imposing buildings are a direct result of the wealth of gold brought into the city.

Larnach’s Castle

When it comes to Larnach’s Castle, where do you start? It could be with the fact that it’s not a castle at all, or it could be with the castle rumoured to be haunted by William Larnach himself or even the story of the rise and fall of William Larnach as a businessman in Otago. He rose to prominence as a banker at the time of the gold rush and went on to have many successes in politics, business and other industries before losing much of his fortune and falling on harder times. He built a grand house on the Otago Peninsula, was married three times, had six children and finally committed suicide in Parliament in Wellington via a gun in 1898. The tragedy even had its own intriguing twist with details pointing towards the tragedy resulting from an affair between Larnach’s third wife Constance and his youngest son Douglas.

Dunedin’s Mediterranean Garden 

Back in my younger days, when I was a lot less worldly and knowledgeable than I am now, I never liked spending time at a Botanical Garden. I simply couldn’t see the point. Why on earth would I want to spend time walking around looking at plants! Now, many years later I’ve come to truly appreciate a slow, quiet amble in a peaceful, tranquil setting. One such location is the Mediterranean Garden at the Dunedin Botanical Gardens. I think it’s the view I like best. Although, I always seem to get slightly lost finding it and never fail to take a wrong turn upon leaving.