Dunedin: An encounter with the Scarfies

Dunedin is a student town of about 150,000 people, 25,000 of which study more or less actively (the numbers vary according to the source but that's a rough estimate). The city's biggest employer is the University of Otago, students of which are known as Scarfies. While I was making beds in Invercargill, I met a girl of the said denomination, who invited me to sleep on their student flat couch during my stay in Dunedin. Any chance to get immersed in student culture was more than welcome so I gladly accepted the offer.

During the five days I spent in Dunedin, I really began to feel like I had been there before. This is probably due to the fact that the town is about the size of Jyväskylä, my hometown in Finland, and also possesses a similar student-to-inhabitant-ratio. Massive parties are not unheard of and in fact on almost any night you can find students populating one or the other bar at the center of town, an area which is known as the Octagon (sinister, I know!). Dunedin is also home to the Speight's brewery, of which I took a small tour, and the allegedly world's steepest street; Baldwin Street.

Some views from the Catlins on the way to Dunedin.

More from the Catlins.

A view from the top of Baldwin Street.

Even the notorious Scarfies gaped at my choice of drink.

Somebody else's choice was the local brew.

N

NZ lager was the inferior choice. I should've had Speight's!