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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

[introduction]

page 38

The city of Dunedin lies near the head of Otago Harbour, which is divided into two sections—the Upper and Lower Harbours. The Lower Harbour, from Taiaroa Heads to Port Chalmers, is six miles long. The Upper Harbour, from Port Chalmers to Dunedin, is seven miles long. Dunedin is thus about thirteen miles from the Heads in a north-easterly direction; but on the south-east, the Ocean Beach is only two miles from the centre of the city, and St. Clair, the marine suburb, is only three miles from the Octagon.

The business part of the city lies on the flat foreshore along the bay. Behind, to north and west, are sloping hills, which are the residential quarters of the town. The city proper is about two miles and a half long by seven-eighths of a mile wide, and is bounded on the west side by the Town Belt, a reserve including about 500 acres of native bush and waste land, in a strip nearly a quarter of a mile broad.

The city proper is surrounded by a series of suburbs on all sides but the east, where it is washed by the waters of the bay. Between Dunedin and the outer sea, on the south, lie South Dunedin and St. Kilda, with Caversham to the west of them, also running down to the sea coast. North of Caversham, and west of the city, lie in succession Mornington and Roslyn, along the hills overlooking the flat. North of Roslyn and north-west of the city, is Maori Hill; east of Maori Hill, and to east of the city, is North-East Valley; while West Harbour lies south of North-East Valley, and on the coast between Dunedin and Port Chalmers.

Dunedin from Town Hall Tower.Morris, photo.

Dunedin from Town Hall Tower.
Morris, photo.

page 39

The country immediately around Dunedin is now somewhat bare, but when the first settlers arrived, the hills were covered with an unbroken stretch of bush. Mr. McIndce in “Picturesque Dunedin” writes: “The view which the site of Dunedin and its surroundings presented to the beholder from the bay before the theodolite touched the soil, was truly magnificent. Nature displayed herself in her most gorgeous attire. From the shore brink up to and over the lower ranges inland, and stretching east and west as far as the eye could compass, was one great ocean of forest, over whose vast expanse not one break could be seen. There, arrayed in colours equal to those of the rainbow in number, the foliage of the enormous varieties of trees and shrubs formed a groundwork which to the appreciative eye was a source of joy, which now to realise would require a visit to some primeval virgin forest of New Zealand.” It is hard to conceive North-East Valley and the hills around Roslyn and Mornington as they must have been then. But though, except in the South Valley and in a few secluded spots, most of the bush has vanished, Dunedin is by no means deficient in scenic beauty. The view from Roslyn or Mornington heights, including a highly varied landscape and a splendid outlook upon the harbour and the sea, is a source of the just pride to the townsflok. On the other hand, the view of “Dunedin from the Bay,” so warmly eulogised by New Zealand's first laureate, Thomas Bracken, supplies a prospect unequalled among the colony's coastal towns. Happily the configuration of the town lends itself to a proper appreciation of these fine scenic effects. The business portion of the city proper on the flat is intersected by the long continuous street which, as George Street or Princes Street, forms perhaps the most imposing channel of commerce to be seen in the colony. But running at angles from this main highway, roads mount every spur, and thread every gully; so that it is possible to get, from many points of vantage, varying prospects of the city and its surroundings. Even along the line of George Street and Princes Street, and the streets parallel to them, there is sufficient rise and fall to enhance the architectural effect of such imposing buildings as Knox Church and First Church; and the break occasioned by the Octagon effectually redeems even the great main thoroughfare from any charge of barrenness and monotony. With the possible exception of Auckland, Dunedin may well claim to be the most picturesque and attractive of the provincial centres of New Zealand.

Dunedin has always enjoyed exceptional commercial advantages by virtue of its position. It is the natural and necessary outlet of nearly all Otago's inland produce; and, in addition to the sea-borne traffic which reaches the Upper Harbour, it enjoys the benefit of the great and lucrative trade centred in Port Chalmers. For many years past efforts have been made to organise the city on the most modern municipal lines; and the establishment of electric traction and motive power on a large scale is now encouraging further advances in that direction, and towards that municipal amalgamation which modern cities, the world over, now constantly lean to as a thing necessary to progress.