Baldwin Street in the southern New Zealand city of Dunedin, was recognized as the world's steepest residential street back in 2009, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. However, its extraordinary and charming beauty only captured the attention of the world relatively recently, with the rise of Instagram.
Tourists are crowding to capture an amazing optical illusion, created with a slight slope of the camera.
It is quite a climb to the top: the street runs at a gradient of 1:2.86m (or a 35% slope), which means that for every 2.86 meters you travel horizontally, the elevation changes by one meter.
The Steepest Street Gift Shop is to be found at the base of Baldwin Street, where "climbers" can purchase certificates commemorating the achievement of having walked up the street, signed personally by the shop's owner. Alas, that means you need to go back down to the bottom of the street in order to reach the shop after having gotten to the top; fortunately the descent is always easier.
In addition, the World's Steepest Street hosts the annual Cadbury Jaffa Race, a fun charity chocolate competition. As Dunedin is home to one of the two Cadbury chocolate factories in the world, the confectionery company organizes the Chocolate Carnival, and the race is a part of it.
Jaffas, named after the Jaffa orange fruit, are small round sweets consisting of a soft chocolate center and a hard orange-flavored covering, common in Australia and New Zealand.
The race raises money for charity by selling numbered Jaffas for 1 New Zealand Dollar each. During the 15th Cadbury Jaffa Race, held on July 22, 2016, 75,000 chocolate balls were rolled down the street. The owner of the first Jaffa to cross the finish line wins a prize. Three charities: Make a Wish Foundation, Parents Centre and Surf Lifesaving New Zealand — receive 25,000 New Zealand Dollars each (US $17,500) from the competition's proceeds. The race has been held since 2001 and has raised more than a million New Zealand Dollars (US $780,000) for charities.
