Two Antipodean Cities

Traveling at the south end of the south island of New Zealand, I visited the two southernmost English speaking cities in the world!  This is Invercargill,  as far south of the equator as Astoria, Oregon is north.  Besides this area, the only continuously inhabited area farther south is the tip of the South American cone in Chile and Argentina.  Invercargill is an old agricultural city, not as tourist oriented as many NZ towns, with lots of architecture from the early 20th century.

A fine old building in Invercargill, nicely painted.

Dunedin, larger and northeast of Invercargill, is a college town. It has a little over 100,000 residents, not counting about 21,000 students at Otago University.  The collegians give the city a hip, lively air.  The rapid growth of the university in recent years has given Dunedin its second heyday, you might say.  The first was in the late 19th century when the Otago area had a gold rush, and wealth flowed into the city.  Here, a statue of Robert Burns graces the Octagon, the centre of the city.  St Paul's Cathedral is over Bobby's right shoulder, with the municipal chambers to his left.

The Bank of New Zealand building, dating from 1883 and currently being renovated within.

An art deco auto dealership.  The building is still used for that purpose.

Yessss, Queen Victoria still keeps a watchful eye over her domain.  When is teatime again??

The Dunedin railway station, a classic Edwardian structure dating from 1904.  Trains still operate here.

Detail of the mosaic floor in the lobby of the train station.  I love these old buildings that have their original use and/or proprietor cut in stone on their facades and floors!  Such a confident prediction of permanence.  You sure don't see that anymore, in an era where sports stadiums change names three times in a decade.

A stained glass window in the train station.  Epic! 

Love it!