We walked past this building, and another couple told us it was really good, so we went back the following day.

The name is off-putting, with connotations of colonialism, but they have made quite an effort to recognise all New Zealand's people, the common heritage and shared history - often by intermarriage between the groups.

There is a lot to take in here, and as a Scot a lot of the history is one of Scottish Presbyterianism, that I find it easy to recognise.

Above all, there were some very good snippets of personal stories, that helped to humanise the story of Dunedin. There is a power in hearing someone tell their story from the past.

One that appealed to me was of the town planner. It had been agreed that Dunedin would have gas lighting and the town was responsible for providing the lights. They put them out to tender, but he wasn't happy with any of the offers, so decided to design his own. I see that as a very Scottish response: "I can do better than this myself."

One interesting thing is how prosperous they were, particularly around the time of the gold rush, they really were pioneers.

That's only a very brief introduction to the breadth of the museum. Allow 2-3 hours at least, if you like to browse and read the information, as we do, rather than just rushing through.