Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

This grey bearded writer has been in the bottom half of the South Island on a wanderlust journey, to previously unvisited parts of Aotearoa, for the last two weeks.

An early break in the journey in Dunedin allowed a fleeting visit to the only permanently enclosed natural turf arena in the world, which is today known as the Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Reaching into the South Island heartland is made infinitely easier by Air NZ direct flights from Tauranga to Christchurch.

Picking up a rental car launched the two grey-tourists on an exploration that traversed a big loop from Balclutha through Invercargill to Te Anau, and a trip across Central Southland back to Balclutha, before the return journey to Christchurch.

Visitors to Dunedin waterside can't miss the Forsyth Barr arena, which stands out like a huge beacon on the way to Port Chalmers.

The contrast between where rugby was and is now played in Dunedin, reflects nearly 140 years of the cities sporting history.

Sporting contests at the Dunedin Park simply known as "Carisbrook", originated in 1883.

Cricket provided the early highlights, with Otago playing a visiting Tasmanian team in 1884, followed by the regions first international cricket match, with the home side playing Australia the following year.

In 1908, the first rugby test was played at the "Brook" with New Zealand squaring off with the Anglo-Welsh visitors.

Another sporting milestone was produced in 1922, when New Zealand faced Australia for the first time in football. The home team produced a 3-1 victory.

Like Athletic Park in Wellington, the two pioneer stadiums in the country reached the end of their useful life late in the 20th century, necessitating replacement.

There was plenty of controversy in Dunedin, when the powers that be thought outside the square and chose to build a world-first indoor grass field stadium.

The only sporting facility in the country that comes close to the Otago Stadium is the Bay Oval's indoor grass-wicket training centre.

Built at a cost of $198 million, the Forsyth Barr Stadium opened in 2011 to a mixed reaction from the ratepayers of the city, who had little choice in contributing to the state of the art sporting facility.

With a transparent roof and a grass playing field, the Dunedin indoor stadium is much more than a rugby and football field.

The Otago Stadium website describes their prized asset in the following words: "Forsyth Barr Stadium is New Zealand's largest and most versatile events arena. Sitting proudly as an innovative Dunedin icon, it's a place where sports, concerts, events and conferences come to life".

Dunedin vacated Carisbrook that had reached its used-bye date, for a world first Stadium of the Future, with a message of "real grass under a transparent roof".

The Otago Stadium is likely to be a model of the future for top-class sporting venues, following in the footsteps of such sports as high-level netball which moved indoors thirty odd years ago.