Not far down the list, particularly for residents and those who know the city well, is the Town Belt, that green necklace of pearls strung across hills which rise sharply from the centre of town.
Few who make Dunedin home could ever claim not to have spent time in the Town Belt, even if it is just passing through on the way to Roslyn or Mornington or a brief stop to watch the children playing sport on a Saturday.
While other large New Zealand settlements have more formal parks and gardens to bring greenery into the central city, Dunedin and Wellington chose town belts as a way to constrain urban growth and allow the city to breathe.
Dunedin’s Town Belt goes right back to the planning and early colonial settlement days in the 1840s.
By the 1880s, there was great concern at encroachments into the bush, with this newspaper saying in 1887 it was "high time to arrest the process of denudation that is going on in the Town Belt and to make it more available as a place of recreation for the people than it is at present".
The following year, the Dunedin Amenities Society was formed and added more pressure for the Town Belt’s protection.
Since then, it has continued to advocate for what is a crucial environmental and recreational asset.
Stretching across 203 hectares and more than 7km, the Town Belt runs from the Dunedin Botanic Garden and Woodhaugh Gardens in the north through native forest and understorey to Stuart St.
South from there it is dominated by exotic coniferous and deciduous trees and grassland through Robin Hood Park, Jubilee Park and Unity Park, ending at the Southern Cemetery and The Oval.
While there are plenty of quiet places to wander, enjoy solitude and the birdsong throughout the Town Belt, it is also pierced with roads.
These are essential for residents and to allow those less able to walk or cycle to appreciate the bush.
However, the noise of traffic can be an unwelcome intrusion into the tranquillity.
The Dunedin City Council is now several days into a trial to lessen the effects of vehicles on Queens Dr between Braid Rd and Preston Cres, and "reimagine this section of the Town Belt as an active, people-focused space".
The council wants to consider introducing such things as a food truck and picnic zone, a play street for children and including fitness events, and a bird discovery trail in Jubilee Park.
Earlier consultation on the Town Belt Active Travel Trial showed support for a pedestrian and cycleway through the area.
The council says it will not make any decisions on permanently banning cars on this section of Queens Dr until it has looked at the feedback following the trial.
There is indeed merit in reducing traffic through the Town Belt, as long as it doesn’t hamper residents or those with disabilities.
But do we really need food trucks and a play street instead?
The trial appears pretty low key, almost as if there’s a desire to let it run a bit below the radar.
We think, when such an important asset is involved, the council could have done more to bring it to people’s attention.
Confusion rules the waves
The British government says it is to streamline immigration and border control; dual New Zealand-British citizens see it simply as a money-making scheme.
Whichever it is, the changes to British passport rules for more than 200,000 United Kingdom-born Kiwis have been a shemozzle — poorly communicated and still causing a great deal of confusion.
From February 25, all expatriate British and Irish dual citizens will have to use that respective passport to enter the UK, rather than their New Zealand one.
Expired UK and Irish passports will cost many hundreds of dollars to replace, while a Kiwi travelling to the UK just needs to pay about $40 for an electronic travel authorisation.
It seems expats are being targeted for choosing to live beyond the UK. Whatever, it has left travellers in a right pickle.
