famous road
Baldwin Street
Dunedin's famously vertiginous suburban street, long certified by Guinness as the world's steepest at a 35% gradient: a quirky bucket-list detour for any South Island road trip.
4 km · about 10 min drive
Otago, New Zealand · Oceania
Shiel Hill works well as a base: 4km from Baldwin Street.
Shiel Hill is a town located in Otago, New Zealand. With a population of 1,830, it is an important destination in Oceania.
On a road trip, Shiel Hill sits in New Zealand, where you drive on the left. It's in the Pacific/Auckland time zone. Below you'll find where to stay, things to do nearby, and everything you need to add Shiel Hill to your route.
Shiel Hill is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located at the southeastern edge of the city's urban area, 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) southeast of the city's centre at the western end of the Otago Peninsula, close to the isthmus joining the peninsula to the mainland. As the name suggests, itRead more
is situated on the slopes of a hill at the start of the ridge which runs along the spine of the peninsula. The slopes rise to a series of crests generally known collectively as Highcliff, a name also often applied to the last suburban vestiges which remain as Dunedin's urban area becomes the rural land of the peninsula. More accurately, the name is that of a cliff which lies on the Pacific coast of the peninsula 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Shiel Hill.
The suburb is almost entirely residential, though there are some retail premises on the suburb's main road, Highcliff Road. These include a small nexus of shops at the southwestern edge of Shiel Hill, at the point where the suburb joins the neighbouring suburb of Andersons Bay. At this point, there is a road junction, with the western end of Highcliff Road meeting four other roads, notably Silverton Street (which leads down into Andersons Bay and is the main route from Shiel Hill to central Dunedin) and Tomahawk Road (which leads to Dunedin's Pacific coastal suburbs of Tahuna and Ocean Grove).
Notable features of Shiel hill include Rotary Park, a small public reserve surrounding reservoirs which serve the Peninsula hill suburbs. This park is located above steep slopes which drop 166 metres (545 ft) to the waters of the Otago Harbour close to The Cove, half a kilometre to the north of the park. From Rotary Park, views can be obtained across and along the harbour to central Dunedin to the northwest, Signal Hill to the north, and Port Chalmers to the northeast.
The suburb of Shiel Hill hit the news headlines in Dunedin in 1995 after one of Dunedin's most notorious crimes was committed in Every Street, close to the boundary of Shiel Hill and Andersons Bay. The case, in which five of the six members of the Bain family were slain led to one of New Zealand's most prominent causes célèbres after the remaining member of the family, David Bain was arrested for the murders despite evidence indicating that the slayings may well have been a murder-suicide by his father Robin. David Bain was found guilty and served 13 years of a life sentence before succeeding in having the case reopened. His retrial, in 2009, resulted in a verdict of not guilty.
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Shiel Hill offers many attractions including tourist sites, museums, parks, and local restaurants. Explore famous landmarks, scenic roads, and natural wonders on our interactive map and plan your visit.
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Shiel Hill is located in Otago, New Zealand, Oceania. The coordinates are -45.8884 latitude, 170.5301 longitude.
Shiel Hill has a population of approximately 1,830 people, making it a town in New Zealand.
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Essential numbers in New Zealand
Many rural bridges are single-lane. Give way as signed.
Full driving guide for New Zealand4 notable places within an hour's drive.
famous road
Dunedin's famously vertiginous suburban street, long certified by Guinness as the world's steepest at a 35% gradient: a quirky bucket-list detour for any South Island road trip.
4 km · about 10 min drive
photogenic
A hand-cut sandstone tunnel commissioned in the 1870s descends through the cliff to a hidden cove with a sea arch and stacks, south of Dunedin. A steep 20-minute walk down.
7 km · about 10 min drive
castle
1871 Gothic Revival mansion on the Otago Peninsula, New Zealand's only castle, with gardens and views over Otago Harbour.
8 km · about 15 min drive
beach
A steep dune descent on the Otago Peninsula leads to a beach where New Zealand sea lions haul out and yellow-eyed penguins come ashore at dusk, watched from a DOC hide.
9 km · about 15 min drive
Other places to explore near Shiel Hill.
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