NZ Visual Diary - entry 390

enchanted lane - Durham Street East

I have confessed in previous posts of both my general obsession with urban lanes and alleys and my particular fixation on Durham Street East located in Auckland Central.

At its western head where the street begins at its intersection with High Street and for the street length from High to Queen, Durham Street East is not much more than a lane in width. Closed to cars, the street is a lovely pedestrian thoroughfare with retail shops, cafes and bars on both sides of the street as well as sidewalk dining.

Like its sibling Vulcan Lane, which runs parallel to it on its northern side, Durham Street East brilliantly illustrates the attraction of pedestrian-only thoroughfares.

The street slopes upwards as one walks from Queen Street, and I took advantage of that high point at Durham and High Streets to photograph with a low horizon, as it were. The perspective renders the effect of accentuating building heights on either side of the street and thereby presents a cloistered ambiance to the alley way.

The banner on the right side of the photograph says it all: Durham Street East!