STREET CRED

ARE YOU AFTER INSTA BACKDROPS? DUNEDIN’S GOT A LIFETIME SUPPLY

If only these walls could talk. It’s a common flight of fancy for visitors who run a hand down care-worn brick in a converted cafe or pad down the times talled halls of Olveston mansion.

The city’s street-art-splashed walls hold a more modern conversation and, with Victoria Gilliand to act as translator, you won’t have to imagine what they’re whispering. Victoria — or Street Kiwi to her Instagram followers — conducts walking tours of Dunedin’s world-class open-air gallery, an everevolving, internationally significant collection hiding in plain sight.

Our first stop has been in the spotlight after Dunedin City Council splashed out $8000 to put Ed Sheeren’s likeness on a Bath St Wall. With the Brit pop star playing Forsyth Barr Stadium this weekend, the rainbow rendering is sure to be swamped in selfie seekers.

Belgium artist ROA’s aerosol tribute to a giant native tuatara is curled around a nearby window, claws clutching at a cloudless sky. My favourite pieces are intricate fantasies from British artist Phlegm, his signature sloth-like creatures perched on NZ’s extinct Moa bird. We crane our necks to see Australian street artist Fintan Magee’s largest work to date — three local children rendered on a scale of storeys.

Tours, which depart the i-site Visitors Centre at 10.30am, are $30. Kids aged 15 or under free. Alternatively, pick up a map at the centre for a self-guided walk.