Dunedin again - the Edinburgh of the South

Following on from a post a few weeks ago, I've trawled and sorted and processed images from my recent trip to Dunedin [Edinburgh of the South it's said].

Brighton Beach...


Back at the classic Dunedin Railway Station...


Ticket windows...


Upstairs...








Tourist...


From across the tracks...


Enough said...

Wikipedia has a good article on the Railway Station

Enough of train stations, so off to the place the cities pioneers have ended up in...


Their substantial contributions are housed in the Hocken Library and here one of the staff welcomes in a researcher...


Nearby the look is more contemporary...


Further north again [for those of you aware of the progression] Signal Hill sports a monument to those pioneers...


Looking across the city from Signal Hill to the sunset and Saddle Hill [I presume?]...

A bit of a walk in Mt Aspiring National Park

With Mt Aspiring National Park on my doorstep sometimes I wonder why I don't visit it more often. So for this and other reasons last weekend saw me in the West Matukituki Valley heading to the iconic Aspiring Hut and a little beyond.

It was a trip down memory lane though - while I may not go there as often as I'd like, because I've lived nearby since '82, on this amble I was constantly assailed with a surprising amount of mostly lovely memories of a broad nature to do with climbing, tramping, skiing, 4wd, rafting, school trips, Search and Rescue... ad infinitum.

Let me take you on the walk...

Hells Gates just up the valley from where The East branch meets the West. The car road used to end here back in the 70s, when I had my first trip in to be a hut warden for a few days at Aspiring Hut. It was a long walk then...


Some wild water now bridged so folk can do day walks up the popular Rob Roy valley to the right, to see the glacier. I once helped get some disabled people to the opening back in the 80s...


Bridal Vail Falls never cease to fascinate me, and once again I made a mental note to self to walk up the awkward ground to check out the landing spot of all the water...


Looking out the window of Aspiring Hut with Mt Aspiring's summit on the right. I've enjoyed many social times of all sorts in this room and even done working bees painting and putting down a new floor. I feel a sense of history here as years ago I did some trips in the hills with one of the original builders, the talented pioneer mountaineer Harry Stevenson..


Further up the valley to Shovel Flat and there is the beautiful French Ridge climbing up to the right. I've seldom enjoyed the steep pull up through the bush, but once above bush line the travel is through an enchanting alpine garden that I always marvel at, but it's as 'mean as..' in a storm...


Heading back out in the cool of the evening, there is the roof of Aspiring Hut on the left...


Should you be interested, classic Brian Brake film footage of the building of Aspiring and French Ridge huts is now on-line

Bob I suspect this'll be another walk down memory lane for you too!

The problem with such stunning weather is a lack of clouds makes the landscape photography a tad boring and 'chocolate box'