48 Hours Dunedin

Start slap bang in the centre of town at The Corner Store, an Art Deco charmer on the corner of Stuart and Bath. Your morning coffee comes courtesy of locally roasted Common Ground beans, free-range eggs arrive every which way - coated in hollandaise, sprinkled with dukkah, popped on a potato hash - and the regulars are so regular they needn't verbalise their orders. If it's a Saturday, detour first through the Otago Farmers Market at the railway station - uber cool setting, all local, all edible, a Dunedin darling.

Suitably fuelled, set aside the morning for some serious browsing of the central city's boutiques. Dunedin Public Art Gallery anchors the Octagon, Blue Oyster deals in the experimental, and Gallery De Novo completes the art trifecta. Shopping-wise, find considered threads at Company Store, local design at GUILD, high fashion at Plume and stupendous botanical tonics at Wild Dispensary. 

Add a narrative arc to your perusing when you stop by The Ink Pot: a romance bookstore practically plucked from the page, some 1,500 titles deep, complete with a rolling ladder begging for your protagonist moment. RELICS Music & Hifi is a self-described purveyor of musical artifacts where five-dollar CDs and hifi systems worth a healthy salary live under one roof. Lose half an hour in the listening room and chat to Irene and Dave about all your auditory needs.

Lunch is at Big Lizard on Vogel Street, no question. Risen from the ashes of the much-missed Side On: step through a fluorescent lime-green doorway for focaccia baked on-site, and fillings running from ham-butter-pickle to cauliflower pakora with coconut raita. The queue is long and deserved, so you might want to order online and zip to the front. It'll be quicker than a lizard catching a fly.

Come afternoon you'll need a quick recharge. Grab a cuppa from Common Ground Espresso, the very roastery behind that morning's brew, and turn the steering wheel toward Tunnel Beach. Fifteen minutes south of the city you'll find a tunnel carved for the Cargill family all the way back in the 1870s. It'll deliver you 72 steps down to sandstone cliffs, sea arches and a showstopping slab of coastline. The climb back up will earn you the next stop.

Head to the seaside suburb of St Clair for all the charm you could wish for. Browse sustainably minded fashion and homewares at Wander & Sons, then make for the Italo-inspired Esplanade precinct - a family of sweetheart spots on the corner of the Esplanade and Forbury Road. Inside Sorella Gelato, a gelato maestro handmakes each small batch in a laboratory visible from the shop floor. The team passes scoops through a hole in the wall to the sandy-footed and beach-bound alike.

Next door, Piccolo is more old European trattoria than polished wine bar, and in what is a Dunedin rarity, doubles as a bottle store. Pick a peach-hued bottle of something tasty to enjoy at home, or sit back amid the hand-painted tiles to sip away.

Dinner belongs to Plato, the harbourside institution where seriously good seafood arrives amid gloriously kitsch surrounds. Woof! on Moray Place is where you'll take a nightcap: diner comfort, pub warmth, cocktail-lounge hours. Past specials have run to a Honey Bee of Bacardi, fresh citrus and Arataki honey. If you're driving, enjoy one of the most robust non-alcoholic lists in the country.

After a packed previous day, some time among the greenery at Dunedin Botanic Garden will prove the perfect tonic. 

By the duck pond you'll find Aster, a bulb-like pavilion cafe that looks practically planted there. And if the vibe feels familiar, that's because it's from the team behind city spot ADJØ. A perfect stop before or after a wander through New Zealand's oldest botanic garden, Aster’s menu is seasonal and botanical by nature, experimental, and, above all else, delicious. Walk it off through the terraces and glasshouses.

From there, drive twenty minutes north and inland to Orokonui Ecosanctuary for further natural immersion. 307 protected hectares of regenerating forest shelter kiwi, tuatara, takahē and the charismatic South Island kākā behind a predator-proof fence. Take the self-guided loop or book a guided tour to witness them thrive. Just make sure you say 'Hi' to Waimarie, the sanctuary's famously friendly resident eel.

Now thoroughly in tune with Mother Earth, you'll take the harbour road to Port Chalmers, Ōtepoti's salty little enclave. Look up at the spire of Iona Church, then fossick through the Flying Whale (illustrator David Elliot's art-and-gifts gallery) and, next door, Box of Birds, then caffeinate at Union Co.

Carey's Bay Hotel, an 1874 stone pub pouring pints beside the fishing boats, is the perfect place to settle in for a late lunch. Once properly nourished, head back to town for a craft spree. A tour at Dunedin Craft Distillers or a tasting flight at No8 Distillery is an essential pit stop for any weekend down these ways.

Rediscover that morning's calm at Lan Yuan, the Dunedin Chinese Garden - a late-Ming-style scholar's garden, one of just three authentic examples outside China - before a harbourside pint at Steamer Basin's taproom. Finish with pizza and good times at Pearl Diver, where you can borrow a napkin and pen to start planning the return trip.