Every day 'a circus' on Baldwin St (+ video)

Stephanie Werner (25) photographs her friend Marie Hammerschmidt (26), both of Berlin, in Baldwin...
Stephanie Werner (25) photographs her friend Marie Hammerschmidt (26), both of Berlin, in Baldwin St yesterday. Photo Stephen Jaquiery

Baldwin St. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Baldwin St. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Welcome to "the circus'', also known as the world's steepest street.

Baldwin Street BnB co-owner Jackie Papuni said Baldwin St was an interesting place to live.

"Every day is like a circus.''

Tourists taking photographs of her Dunedin bed and breakfast at odd angles to create the optical illusion of the house being severely lopsided or sinking, such as those which made international headlines last week as part of the latest social media craze, was common.

"Every day, all day. Even when it's pouring with rain, people still come.''

Ms Papuni said watching the antics of the visitors to the street was "hilarious''.

People often struck poses for their photographs. The "Superman'' pose was popular.

She had owned the business for six months and the craziest thing she had seen was a tourist rollerskating down the street pushing a luggage trolley.

The man crashed at the bottom and lost plenty of skin, she said.

Baldwin St resident Matthew Dwyer said "tonnes'' of tourists took photos of his house with tilted cameras and he played up to it.

The letterbox on the picket fence outside his 102-year-old villa was installed on the same angle as the street, to "add to the illusion''.

He had considered reinstalling the pickets so they were the same angle as the road to "really mess with people''.

Crazy activity was common on the street and many people crashed near his house, where there was a camber in the road.

A man driving a car down Baldwin St crashed into his fence and a picket smashed a window of the villa.

At night, "hoons'' rolled items from Buchanan St at the top of Baldwin St.

"If it's not tied down, it gets rolled down.''

A stormwater grate at the top of the street had to be chained down to stop people rolling it down the street.

"We bought this house knowing full well what we were getting into.''

He was a fan of the "crazy'' Undie 500 cars scaling the street and was disappointed the rally was cancelled.

Some cars were so poorly maintained, the "street would vanish in a cloud of white smoke''.

"It was amazing.''

A couple of professional clowns rode unicycles up the street. Many amateur unicyclists had "faceplanted'' when attempting the feat.

A BMX rider who travelled down the street with his arms folded hit a car outside his house.

"He had a broken arm, collarbone and rib.''

A tourist in the street yesterday was civil engineer Hong Wei (28), of Malaysia, who was on a South Island trip with his parents and four siblings.

The family researched Dunedin before arriving and learned of the phenomenon of people creating the optical illusions.

The family loved the street but climbing it yesterday was tiring.

Media designer Stephanie Werner (25), of Berlin, said she visited Baldwin St on Monday after hearing about it on her travels.

Before visiting, she was "sceptical'' it was the steepest street in the world because she had seen steep streets in San Francisco.

But after the visit she believed the hype and would not dare drive her car up it but would attempt such a feat in San Francisco, she said.

shawn.mcavinue@odt.co.nz

 


Baldwin St

•The 161.2m length of the top section climbs a vertical height of 47.22m, which is an average gradient of 1 in 3.41.

•On its steepest section the gradient is 1 in 2.86.

•The street is named after William Baldwin, who carried out the original subdivision.

 


 

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