Olveston
House
DUNEDIN:
LITTLE EDINBURGH OF THE SOUTH
by
Bruce Burnett
Farewell
to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The Birthplace of velour, the country of worth!
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands forever I love.
It
was their love of their homeland that caused the early Scottish settlers
to reproduce it as faithfully as possible in their new home on the Otago
Peninsula on the southeast coast of New Zealand. The founding city was
called Dunedin, the original Celtic name for Edinburgh, and the streets
were named after those in the mother city. Dominating the "Octagon"
in Dunedin's center is a large statue of Robbie Burns, the author of
the above lines, with pen permanently poised.
The Scottish heritage is still evident in the Gaelic burr perceptible
in local speech. Dunedin also boasts the only distillery outside of
Scotland to make a reasonably authentic Scotch whisky.
Shortly after the city was founded in 1848 gold was discovered in the
area and for many years Dunedin was the largest and most prosperous
city in New Zealand. Dunedin's early wealth is conspicuous in the city's
sometimes extravagant architecture. One writer has referred to Dunedin
as "the most perfectly preserved Victorian city on earth."
Worth singling out from this entire fin-de-siecle architectural
splendor is Olveston, a Jacobean-style stately home built between 1904
and 1906 by David E. Theomin, an importer and world traveler. The 35-room
mansion is a treasure house of antique furniture, paintings, priceless
silverware, rare porcelain and ornaments collected from around the world.
The dining room is set with the original place cards for the 1907 founding
dinner of the Plunket Society, New Zealand's model mother-and-baby-care
system.
Not to be missed is the Royal Albatross Colony at Taiaroa Head at the
very end of the peninsula. Nowhere else in the world does the albatross
nest so close to civilization. If you're lucky you may see these majestic
birds soar from their nests while lines from Coleridge's "The Ancient
Mariner" ring in your memory.
Dunedin's Larnach Castle boasts a Gothic aspect, suiting its grim history
which itself would make a good plot for a gothic novel.
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Larnach
Castle
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The
Hon. W.J.M. Larnach, an Australian-born successful banker and Member of
Parliament, built it in 1871. His wife was a rich, titled Frenchwoman with
extravagant taste. No expense was spared in the building of the castle.
Craftsmen were imported from Europe and only the finest of materials were
used. However Larnach's wife died young. His second wife also died young
and his third wife ran off with Larnach's son by his first wife. Undergoing
severe financial problems at the time, Larnach resolved his difficulties
by committing suicide, as did the errant son a few years later. |
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Despite
all these histrionics, Larnach Castle is apparently not haunted. To get
to the castle you must drive by Glenfalloch Woodland Gardens. Nestled
in an 11-hectare (27 acres) valley, Glenfalloch offers a view of a pioneer
homestead and walks through the beautiful woodland garden with its trees,
streams, rhododendrons, azaleas, tropical aquarium and children's playground.
Pottery is crafted and sold in the cottage and refreshments are served
in the chalet.
Back out on the peninsula, Penguin Place offers visitors a fascinating
glimpse of marine wildlife in a natural setting. Here you can watch yellow-eyed
penguins come from the surf and climb to their nests and see seals bask
on their rocky islet of a home just 10 meters from the shore.
In Dunedin itself, if time permits, visitors should see the city's art
center, Carnegie Center. It was named after the famous philanthropist,
Andrew Carnegie, whose generosity allowed the building to open in 1908
as a public library. Since 1984 this architecturally impressive edifice
has operated as a showcase for local artists. During the summer, musicians
and drama groups perform in the courtyard.
The Otago Museum and the Otago Early Settlers Museum are worth visiting
as is the Dunedin railway station. The extravagance that went into the
building of the station in 1906 betokens a fondness for railroads that
borders on worship. The flamboyance of the bluestone exterior is matched
by the railway motif in the mosaic flooring, the intricate scrollwork
around the ticket booths and the colorful stained glass windows, which
feature steam engines with the same degree of reverence that European
cathedrals reserve for saints.
Also of architectural interest is Otago University. This 100-year old
complex of bluestone buildings on the banks of the Leith Stream is New
Zealand's training center for dentistry, theology and physical education
and one of the country's two medical schools.
DUNEDIN:
LITTLE EDINBURGH OF THE SOUTH
was first published in the Regina Leader-Post
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