The last time we were in Port Chalmers/ Dunedin (Port Chalmers is the location of Port Otago, where the cruise ship is berthed; Dunedin is the nearby town of about 125,000 people), we visited the famous Dunedin Railway Station and booked a train trip for today. We chose to take the Seasider, a 2-2.5 hour round trip ride along the northern coast of Otago Harbour and the coastal beaches northeast of Port Chalmers. Our scheduled trip was at 11:15am from the Dunedin Railway Station, which should have given us plenty of time to get from Port Chalmers to Dunedin, but twice in our two seasons here the ship has been delayed in getting clearance from the local authorities for passengers to go ashore. We weren’t taking any chances.
We grabbed a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet, and were sitting in the Piazza on Deck 5 awaiting the announcement we could go ashore. Today it was fairly timely, but not early enough for us to catch the 8:15am local bus to Dunedin. Because it was Saturday, the bus runs only one time each hour, but an enterprising tour operator had his bus right at the city bus stop and took us to Dunedin for NZ $6pp. This was between the price of the local bus and the transfer sold in the port terminal (NZ $15 round trip).
The Dunedin Railway Station... with no buses in front of it!
The clock tower
The station was opened in 1904
I was so excited when we first arrived at the Railway Station to see there wasn’t a bus (or several) parked in front of the it. This beautiful building is the single most photographed building in New Zealand... but unless you’re there at dawn, it’s impossible to get a photo of it with no vehicles in front of it. But G was talking with an employee who works at the reservation desk inside the station and learned that this will soon be changing. In about another month or so, the front of the station will be closed off to all but pedestrian traffic. This is excellent news.
We were at the Railway Station in plenty of time, and took the opportunity to check out the Farmers Market taking place next door. There was some beautiful organic produce and Manuka honey, but I had to settle for an apple of a variety I’d never had before.
Saturday mornings, a Farmers Market operates at one end of the Railway Station.
They expected 12000 people to visit the market today
I bought a Pacific Rose Apple for about US 30 cents.
We had booked the Seasider train the last time we were in Dunedin and then kept an eye on the weather. It was great today.
We were checked in early for our train ride, and were assigned two excellent seats on the train. The train left right on time and we first rode through Dunedin and then along the Otago Harbour to Port Chalmers, basically reversing the trip we had just made on the bus.
Pine logs, a New Zealand port staple, at Port Otago
After we left Port Chalmers, we passed through several tunnels (not my favorite part). The longest one was nearly a mile long, when the train went through the hills between the harbor and the ocean.
A pine tree farm
Most farmed trees in New Zealand are Monterey pines, originally imported from California.
Beautiful blue water and endless white sand beaches
This one is aptly named Long Beach
Dark sheep, far more rare in New Zealand than their white cousins
The Seasider turns around at Waitati
You can see the long string of white sand beaches on Google Maps
We couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was not warm today (the high was in 60s...who said it’s almost summer?), but it was mostly sunny. The last time we had done this had been largely overcast, but we’d been watching the weather for the past week. We could have cancelled without penalty until three days ago.
Purakaunui Beach
On our return, we chose to get off the train in Port Chalmers instead of riding back to Dunedin. We were let off right behind the Iona Church, part way up the hill to the lookout at Lady Thorn Rhododendron Dell. The rhododendrons were almost done blooming, but the views from up there made the climb worth the effort.
Our historic rail car
Walking up Church Street to a lookout over Port Chalmers
Looking back down Church Street to the Iona Church
Exploring the Lady Thorn Rhododendron Dell
Looking down on Port Chalmers
Port Otago and the Ruby Princess
The Iona Presbyterian Church
As we walked back down to the waterfront, the Iona Church was just being unlocked. It is open from 1:30pn.to 4:30pm on cruise ship days. As we entered, we could hear the sound of Christmas carols being played on the organ. The organist was in there practicing for the Christmas service. That was quite a treat.
The church’s iconic bell tower
We entered the church to the sound of the organist practicing Christmas carols (the good ones) on the pipe organ.
We returned to the ship about 2:30pm, and were too hungry to wait until dinner to eat. Instead we had a light lunch at the Horizon Court Buffet, and then had a few more nibbles at the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers, where several of us were well entertained by the large freighter being unloaded by two huge cranes right next to our ship. We always enjoy that kind of thing.
We went to dinner not one bit hungry. G had chicken strips from the kids menu and I had a corn cake without the egg and that left just enough room for watermelon sorbet. My favorite!
Day 9 dinner menu, page 1
Day 9 dinner menu, page 2
Day 9 dessert menu
The Princess Theater entertainment tonight was comedian Rash Ryder. His material was average but his delivery is what saved the show. It was pretty funny.
Tomorrow, joy of joys, the alarm is turned OFF. We do have an excursion planned for Akaroa (knock on wood we get in this time), but not until noon. A noon excursion...just the way God intended them all to be. We will have breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet when we finally wake up.
Life is good. :-)
Dunedin Port Guide, page 1
Dunedin Port Guide, page 2
Dunedin Port Guide, page 3
Dunedin Port Guide, page 4
Day 9 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 9 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 9 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 9 Princess Patter, page 4