Scenic South is a group of people who have grown up in the Dunedin area and love the city and its surroundings.

It's taken a little pursuasion but they are ready to show you some of the places that make their home unique and unforgettable.

Dunedin is often called the Edinburgh of the South, Victorian City of New Zealand, or City of Spires and Towers... These descriptions arise from Dunedin's distinctive architecture and the cultural legacy of its early Scottish settlers.Dunedin is home to New Zealand's only castle, New Zealand's first university - a Gothic copy of the University of Glasgow - and one of the first girls' high schools in the world.

The Dunedin Railway Station is the grandest ever built in New Zealand. The City's most prominent statue is of the famed Scots poet Robbie Burns and even the former Police Station (now a prison) was modelled on London's Scotland Yard. Dunedin's Scottish heritage helps make the city unique. Settled mostly by Scots immigrants of the Free Church of Scotland in 1848, Dunedin has a character different from anywhere else in New Zealand. Many visitors have been struck by the city's Scottish character. Even its name "Dunedin" is the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh - though Dunedin's weather is better.

Dunedin also has a great number of different architectural styles and has been location to many films. From the Flemish Renaissance railway station, one can view the Gothic detail on the Law Courts, the Queen Anne touches on the former Police Station and up towards the Italianate Municipal Chambers. A few blocks away a Greek Revival bank can be found amongst a cluster of mid-Victorian commercial buildings, heavily ornamented with sculptured friezes and bewhiskered gents' faces. Nearby, on the city's hills, Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian-style dwellings stand above the famous Speight's brewery.

Your guide, a lifelong Dunedin resident, will take you on a fascinating tour of two hours' easy walking exploring the buildings and history of the Victorian city. Your guide has been called "...better than Edinburgh's Royal Mile tour".

Bookings:

Prices are: Adults NZ$30, Students NZ$20, Children NZ$15. Group discounts are available.

Tours can be booked direct by calling 021-1053-890 or by e-mail at "lindskii@yahoo.com".

You can also book through the Dunedin Visitor Centre on the Octagon or Plan-It Travel at 146 Princes St.

Scenic South Tours can also arrange Graveyard and Pub walking tours, Haggis Ceremonies, and vehicle tours by special arrangement.
Feel free to contact us with any enquiries. If we don't go there, we'll know someone who does.

Otago Peninsula
From the top of the Peninsula, not far from Larnach's Castle, sealed and gravel roads takes us down the Ocean side to Hooper's and Papanui Inlets and their birdlife. We go as far as Taiaroa Head and its attractions before taking the direct route beside the Harbour to Portobello.
Options available: Larnach's Castle, Albatross Colony, Nature's Wonders, Penguin Place.
Length of ride: up to 30kmkm Altitude difference: 310m. Price: $75pp, min 2.

Aramoana
Starting at Dunedin's historic Port Chalmers it's an easy 13km ride to Aramoana; once threatened by industry and now a small beachside community next to protected saltmarsh. The mm metre mole serving Otago Harbour has an excellent view of Taiaroa Head and its birdlife.
Length of ride: 26km. Altitude difference: none. Price: $75pp, min 2.

Saddle Hill-Brighton
From the top of Saddle Hill (named by Cook in 1769) the views stretches 60km to inland mountain ranges and 30km down the coast. From there it's downhill (nearly) all the way, arriving in Bright by way of its wetland area. The ride can end there or take another 10 km back towards the city. Brighton is where James K Baxter, NZ's greatest poet, grew up and fans can be shown the place he wrote his first poem at age 7.
Length of ride:up to 20km. Altitude difference:335m. Price: $75pp, min 2.

Silverstream Valley
The ride starts on the slopes of Flagstaff at 501 metres and drops into the Valley through pine plantation and native forest. The ride along the valley takes us gently to the green Taieri Plain and ends in the town of Mosgeil, named after Robbie Burns' farm.
Length of ride: 21km. Altitude difference: 500m. Price: $75pp, min 2.

Three Hillsides - 1400 Metres Downhill
For the real downhill rider: we take you to Mt Cargill (676m), Northern Motorway Summit (365m), Mt Cargill Road (390m). You do the rest.
Length of ride: 23km Altitude difference: 1430m. Price: $90pp, min 2.

Waipori Gorge
An absolute gem and one of the best things about living in Dunedin. Waipori is an hour's drive away across the green Taieri Plain and is an unspoilt river gorge surrounded by native forest.
Length of ride: 10km Altitude difference: 440m. Price: by negotiation.

Central and South Otago, including the Rail Trail.
Where would you like to go? What would you like to ride? We can take you to bush-clad hill trails, alongside mighty rivers, to bare mountaintops - and we know the best campsites in the area. Just let us know what you'd like to see.

Bookings:

Bookings can be made direct on Ph 021-1053-890 or at "lindskii@yahoo.com".

They can also be made at the Dunedin Visitors Centre in the Octagon or at Plan-It Travel at 146 Princes St.