On Saturday afternoon mum and I drove up to Signal Hill, where, because it was such a sunny and clear day, we were able to see the entire city and harbour!

These two bronze statues, representing the men and women who were the first early settlers of Otago (the region where Dunedin is) are on either side of the huge monument.

 
The plaque on the monument.

The text in the photo above reads…

At the beginning of the Dominion’s second century this monument is dedicated to the memory of the pioneers who braved the first.

Foundation stone laid by His Worship the Mayor of Dunedin A.H. Allen ESO, 21st February 1940.

Yes. For those of you who are observant. New Zealand is an extremely "young" country. "Historical" for us is anything prior to 1900!

This stone, hewn from the rock on which Edinburgh Castle stands, was given as a centennial memorial token by the people of Edinburgh to signify the bond which forever binds the cities of Edinburgh and Dunedin.
Auld Lang Syne.
3 April 1941

Dunedin’s "sister city" is Edinburgh, Scotland, and lots of aspects of Dunedin (culture, street names etc) are extremely Scottish. For those who don’t already know, "Auld Lang Syne" is Gaelic (I think?) and translates to something along the lines of "Long, long ago".

Laura Anne, who lives in Scotland, tells me that actually…

‘Auld Lang Syne’ is ‘Scots’ dialect of English, not Gaidhlig (Scots Gaelic). ‘Auld’ means old, ‘Lang’ means ‘long’ and I’m not sure the exact meaning of ‘syne’. ‘Auld Lang Syne’ is a poem by Robert Burns turned into a song commonly sung at the end of celebrations (like weddings and New Year’s Eve). It’s really a song about friendship.

View from the top of Signal Hill looking out over most of Dunedin.

These two symbols were on the back of the monument and represent New Zealand (fern and koru, left) and Scotland (thistle, right)

Somebody’s cute little barn I saw on the way back down the hill.

Stopping here again today, since I have (AGAIN!!!!) gone overboard with photos! You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what else we did. :P

1. The roadworks going on near to where I usually walk. Road was closed.
2. How I felt about aforementioned closed road. :( #sadpoutyface.
3. Maori cultural performance as part of the Buskers Festival.
4. Some VERY brightly coloured clothes I saw at Farmers.
5. The dress I decided on for a friend’s wedding.
6. "Rocky park only". Goodness knows who Rocky is, but apparently he’s allowed to park there!

I am currently trying to decide on a dress for the wedding of a good friend from high school. Thanks to Ezibuy, I have managed to narrow it down to four possibilities, but now can’t choose between them!

Size wise, I am a 12 – 14, which is not slim, but not plus sized either. I am 5"5′ tall and haven’t decided whether I will wear heels or not yet.

These are the four I am considering. If I decided on the first one, it would be in a dark grey/blue colour rather than red.

To be honest, I am leaning quite heavily towards one, but figured I would ask for some more opinions just to see whether I’m crazy or not.

So, what say you, stylish and fashionable readers….?!