Over its 150 years, it has produced pioneers and scholars, inspiring artists and writers, prominent politicians and lawyers, leading scientists and mathematicians, influential voices for several generations, and some truly wonderful musicians.
Up there with the best in the latter category are five young men who decided to run for it when they traded their humble surrounds in the student quarter for the bright lights of the professional music world.
Six60 - named for their flat at 660 Castle St - have not looked back since following the white lines of the Northern Motorway to stardom.
How high have they soared? So high.
Consider the fact they just made history by becoming the first New Zealand band to headline famed Western Springs Stadium, following in the not insignificant footsteps of some acts to die for: David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, U2, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, AC/DC ... you get the point. In entertainment terms, this was a very big deal.
Critics expressed doubt the concert would work, only to be forced to eat humble pie when Six60 tickets started flying out the door, and the last ones left were sold fully six months before the concert.
Hearing the number makes people exhale sharply. A crowd of 50,000. That is Ed Sheeran-esque, something New Zealand musicians just don't experience.
But perhaps we should have seen this coming and, like the band, delivered a sharp ``get lost'' to any who doubted a Kiwi act could pull off such a spectacle.
Six60's rise up the charts since their first album was released in 2011 has been relentless. That debut went quadruple platinum, and they have had multiple platinum-selling singles since then.
For five New Zealand lads, the apples of their mothers' eyes, it must all seem a bit overwhelming at times.
Yet Matiu Walters, Ji Fraser, Chris Mac, Eli Paewai and Marlon Gerbes seem to sail serenely down the rivers of superstardom as if the gods of rock are providing a steady supply of wind in their sails.
Their slick performances and fusion of styles have earned them broad appeal the length of the country. If Lorde is the finest wine in the New Zealand music cellar, Six60 are five green bottles of some equally impressive vintage.
They haven't forgotten their roots, either. At their record-breaking Auckland show, they paid homage to their Otago beginnings with a series of images of Castle St and surrounds. Not since the halcyon days of The Chills and The Clean and The Bats and the Fits has Dunedin had such a musical selling point.
Closer to home, Six60 fans get a chance to see their old mates in action when the band performs in Dunedin this Saturday. The rest of you, well, it might be time to download a couple of their singles to see what all the fuss is about.
Stay together, Six60. Don't go changing. New Zealand has embraced you, but you are special to us. Forever.
