Campervan Rentals in Dunedin is an easy choice with Compare & Choose, there is so much to do here. Claiming the crown of the South Island's second biggest city is Dunedin. It is also the principal city of the Otago region. However, its claim as the second biggest city is not due to population statistics, but instead its historic, geographic and cultural reasons. Today the population of the city is estimated at a little over 120,000 people. The city consumes a 3,314 square kilometre area of land.
The city lies on the central eastern coast of Otago, engaging the head of the Otago Harbour. An extinct volcano is what gives the harbour and the surrounding hills of the city its landform. The city spreads itself out through the surrounding valleys and hills, and out into the Otago Peninsula, and Harbour, and out to the Pacific Ocean.
The Maori derivative of Dunedin is Otepoti.
Dunedin is a tertiary education city. It is home to the very well respected University of Otago, and the Otago Polytechnic. The University of Otago is New Zealand's first University opening back in 1869. Subsequently as one might expect, over a fifth of the city's population are in the 15 to 24 age bracket due to their attendance at the University.
During the 1850's and 1860's the city was well and truly caught up in the Gold Rush Era. Many different nationalities flooded into New Zealand and more so Dunedin to claim their fortune. This included the Italians, Lebanese, Jews, Chines, French and Irish. The Dunedin North and South Cemeteries now lay tribute to a lot of these immigrants.
Some of the key attractions in and around Dunedin are the Dunedin Town Hall, Larnach Castle, Olveston, University of Otago Registry Building, Cadbury World, Cargill's Castle, the Dunedin Railway Station, the Regent Theatre, The Octagon, the Orokonui Ecosanctuary, the Fortune Theatre, St Clair Beach, Forsyth Barr Stadium and my all-time favourite Speight's Brewery!
Well we've found the mother lode. Dunedin is just crammed full of useful trivia titbits. There are so many I want to share with you that I have to mention them here in the main article.
Dunedin is the southernmost city in the world.
Not only is Dunedin is copied from exactly the same street blueprint as Edinburgh, and Dunedin in Celtic is Edinburgh.
It is one of the very few cities in the world where you can go snow skiing and surfing in the same day.
The world's rarest penguin, the Yellow Eyed Penguin is found in Dunedin.
The most photographed building in New Zealand is the Dunedin Railway Station.
And finally, that weird game they play at the Winter Olympic's, curling, well Dunedin has the biggest curling rink in the Southern Hemisphere.