A dad was on Castle Street, and his name is Greg. The self-described “advocate for student life” tagged along with his son Logan to the Gothic-themed ‘Haunted’ night on the Thursday of Flo Week. Critic Te Ārohi got the scoop from the nostalgic construction supervisor in his fifties, reflecting on how the student scene has changed since he last paraded these streets in the ‘90s.
Greg didn’t mean to stay as long as he did. He told Critic that he initially planned to just “wander through and carry on.” But he ended up staying there for an hour or so (a more solid effort than Critic Te Ārohi’s Flo Week reviewer on some nights). He was chuffed with the energy, describing how it was “impressive” and “heartwarming” to see students having a great time. “I had a great time [in Dunedin]. Just a good bunch of kids and the vibe was really cool,” said Greg.
His son Logan found it “pretty crack up” seeing the old man on Castle Street – especially when he apparently got on the Haunted host’s stage at one point. “[It’s] not something we usually do together but we convinced him to come along,” Logan told Critic. A whole different level of bonding. Your daddy issues could never.
The only thing missing was the burning couches, according to Greg. But now he thinks the whole affair is “probably a bit more organised” than in his heyday. “Which is a good thing,” he added, admitting that “sometimes some of the stuff could get a bit out of control.” Greg expressed his admiration for Campus Watch, calling the Aunts and Uncles of North D “pretty cool” and “primo”. Their presence “would make people feel much more comfortable if they did end up walking somewhere on their own – not just the girls, guys too.”
The old-timer reckoned the changes could be traced back to the negative media coverage the Castle scene has had over the years. “Even from two years ago, things have tamed down a bit,” said Greg. “And to be fair, it's probably changed for the better. There was some pretty out-of-control drinking and stuff going on at times. Castle is just not as bad as the mainstream media portray it all to be. Student pubs were still very much active then, and that kinda took everyone off the streets drinking – much more contained.”
But there were some changes he didn’t rate as highly. Greg expressed disgust (literally saying “ew”) at the idea of invite-only hosts, explaining, “That's not Dunedin. Holy fuck no, all in.” Hear ye, Castle dwellers. Drugs were another curly subject for Greg, reckoning it had shifted in a negative way – from weed and LSD, to the current ket, MDMA, and even cocaine. “I mean, cocaine is so fucking lame, a waste of money. They all just seem to not be able to go out without it all, which I don’t think is a good thing. But up to them, I suppose,” said Greg.
Other musings on the comparisons between modern Castle to ye olden days included shock at how little the flats have changed. “I don’t think they’ve even been done up since we were down there. Like holy shitballs, I mean, what some of those kids are paying for flats is criminal,” said Greg. “Just seems like the landlords don’t give a shit. And to be fair, some of those kids don’t look after the flats. You can see why they don’t want to fix them up.”
Greg, now removed from the thrall of Castle Street, is a proud advocate for student life which gave him memories like carrying crates of beer and couches to the infamous Carisbrook Stadium Terraces (the OG Zoo). “People up here say ‘Oh, you didn’t go to Castle did you?!’ I’m like, ‘Yuh, dude, it’s perfectly fine’. It’s not an issue, no different to going to a big music festival.’”
Despite the unchanged state of the flats, the changes to people's drugs of choice, and the ‘disgusting’ culture of invite-only hosts, Greg stands by it “just being a cool vibe” in North D, a vibe found nowhere else.