On Monday, March 25, 2013, the Dawn Princess docked in Port Chalmers at 8:00 am. Our ship was in port until all aboard at 5:30 pm with sailaway at 6:00 pm. Port Chalmers is the primary South Island port for the cruise ship industry. Located on the Otago Peninsula, the area is celebrated as the world’s only mainland Albatross breeding colony at Taiaroa Head. The area is also home to various other ocean bird, seal and penguin species, including one of the world’s rarest, the Yellow Eyed Penguin.
Port Chalmers is located eight miles from the city center of Dunedin pronounced “Dunn-knee-din.” Perched on the hills above one of New Zealand’s loveliest harbors, Dunedin is a Kiwi city with a Scottish heart. Hailed as the “Edinburgh of New Zealand,” Dunedin is proud of its heritage. A statue of famed Scottish poet Robert Burns graces downtown, and the presence of New Zealand’s only kilt maker and whisky distillery – as well as many bagpipe bands – keep Dunedin’s ties to Scotland alive. The city also boasts a distinguished architectural and cultural history, a legacy of New Zealand’s 1860s gold rush.
Granby and Henry had reservations on a City Hopper bus that departed from the end of the wharf at 8:45 am to take them from Port Chalmers to the Railway Station in Dunedin where they had reserved tickets to board the Taieri (pronounced Tar-ree) Gorge sightseeing train that leaves every day at 9:30 am and returns around 2:00 pm. We chose an option to purchase a bus tour of Dundin after our train trip before returning to the ship.
The Dunedin Railway Station is the second most photographed piece of architecture in the Southern Hemisphere. The first official architect for New Zealand Railways, George A. Troup, won the unofficial title of “Gingerbread George” for this magnificent station built in 1904-07 in the Flemish Renaissance style. Constructed from dark basalt rock with lighter Oamaru stone facings, the Station has a distinctive light and dark pattern. A 37-metre (121.39 foot) clock tower dominates the building and is visible from much of central Dunedin. Bought by the Dunedin City Council in 1994, the Dunedin Railway Station underwent a refurbishment in the late 1990s. Money from sightseeing tours goes toward continuing maintenance and needed updates to the building.
The railway first built in the 1870s has 35 bridges and 10 tunnels. The tunnels are tight with just a few feet clearance or each side. The journey from Dunedin to Pukerangi (pronounced pooh-ka-rainy) is 58km and 250 m above sea level. Traveling in both historic wooden heritage train carriages (built between 1915 and 1920s) and more modern carriages, the railway follows the course of the Taieri River passing through tunnels and crossing over bridges or viaducts — some that are wrought iron with riveted lattice work construction on masonry piers. The track gauge is 3 feet 6 inches which is the New Zealand standard gauge. The standard gauge for railroad track in the United States is 4 feet 8.5 inches. The train follows a route used by pioneers and prospectors and provides views of the spectacular Taieri River Gorge. The Taieri Gorge Railway has been described as “one of the world’s great train trips” on the TV series Great Scenic Railway Journeys. The Taieri Gorge was used for some of the background scenes in The Hobbit movie.
People who have ridden on the Taieri Gorge Railway have compared the views and the ride to those experienced on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway (WP&YR) excursion from Skagway, Alaska. Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, the WP&YR is a narrow gauge railroad that climbs nearly 3000 feet in just 20 miles featuring steep grades, cliff-hanging turns, two tunnels, and numerous bridges and trestles including the steel cantilever bridge which was the tallest of its kind in the world when it was constructed in 1901. Henry and Granby have been on the WP&YR twice – once in 2000 and a second time with Aunt Ramona and Uncle Jimmy in 2005. Now, we will get to compare the two train trips.
Here is an Avid Cruiser Video about the Taieri Train Gorge Railway:
http://blip.tv/the-avid-cruiser/silver-shadow-shorex-taieri-train-gorge-railway-5927868
Granby and Henry were assigned seats in a more modern car with very comfortable bench seats on either side of a table. The car behind us had beverage and food service. Each car had its own toilet and refuse disposal. Before boarding our car, we peeked in at one of the vintage cars.
Roo and Ester had good views out the window while the train was moving and at some our stops.
The train stopped just a few miles outside Dunedin at Wingatui to change engines. The popular story behind the naming of Wingatui is that an early settler accidentally shot and wounded a tui bird (wing a tui) on his arrival to the province in 1848. He took the bird back to his home and nurtured it back to health. At this point, the railway runs north-west across the Taieri Plain. We passed the Wingatui Racecourse and saw many horses in their pastures (called paddocks). We also went past the Taieri Aerodome and saw lots of sheep. Along the way, we also saw goats, cows, and three llamas.
At Salisbury (150 m above sea level) we went through the Sailsbury Tunnel, the longest on the Taieri Gorge line (437 m). We then followed the Mullocky Gully to the Taieri River.
We traveled over the Wingatui Viaduct above the Mullocky Stream. This viaduct is one of the largest wrought iron structures in the southern hemisphere, It is 197 m long and 47 m above the Mullocky Stream.
At Parera, we saw a former railway house that has been sold as a privately owned holiday house. From this point on, we followed the Taieri River for the next 26km. The Taieri River is 298km long. Parera is the Maori name for the grey duck.
We went over the Christmas Creek on another curved lattice work wrought iron viaduct. A miner discovered gold in the creek on Christmas Day in 1863.
The train had a brief stop at Hindon which is still a crossing station.
We then climbed through the Notches where the railroad line traverses four deep gulches.
Finally at Pukerangi (Maori for “Hill of Heaven”, the locomotive switched ends for the return journey to Dunedin. Passengers were asked to switch sides so that everyone would have an opportunity to see what they had missed on their way up to Pukerangi.
We had lunch on the train. Roo and Ester had a ham, cheese & pineapple sandwich and ripple potato chips with a vinegar and salt flavor.
After our train returned to Dunedin, the City Hopper bus was waiting for us at the Railway Station for a City Sights Tour before taking us back to the ship. Our bus driver was Neil who was wearing a Taieri Gorge Railway baseball cap. We wanted to purchase the caps, but the gift shop was sold out and was not expecting more caps to be delivered for a few more days. We will just have to order from the gift shop online after we return home.
Here are a few of the highlights from our city sights tour.
The top three employers in Dunedin are the University, Cadbury, and Speights Brewery. The University employs anywhere from 4,500 to 5,000 people. The students at the University are called scarfies. In the winter, Dunedin gets cold to –5 or –6 degrees C. First year students are known for bringing hand knit scarves from mothers and grandmothers to keep them warm.
A statue of Robert Burns with his back to the Church of England.
Baldwin Street, the steepest residential street in the world according to Guinness World Records. Lombard Street in San Francisco is the most twisty. There is an annual run up Baldwin Street known as the Gut Buster. The record stands at 1:56 minutes from the bottom to the top.
Count Down is one of the grocery stores. Shopping carts are called trundlers.
Street Signs and the public bus.
A body shop is called a panelbeaters shop.
Central Fire Station.
First Presbyterian Church of Otago.
Gasoline was $2.169 NZ per liter. To figure out a rough comparison for the cost per gallon, you can multiple by 4 ($8.676). For Granby to fill the 15-gallon tank on her car, she would need $130!
On our way back to the ship, we followed one of the trucks (lorries) taking logs to the port for shipment to China. Logs are shipped to China for building materials and wood pulp is shipped to China for making paper.
As we left port, a Scottish band gave us a send off. One of our last views of Port Chalmers was a lighthouse up on a hill.
Dinner had an Italian theme. The maitre d’ was cooking spaghetti sauce and the dining room smelled like garlic. Granby and Henry had sliced Proscuitto ham with sweet cantaloupe melon for an appetizer. We had a nice salad with baby leaf spinach with crispy bacon, pecorino cheese, and pine nuts with sun dried tomato vinaigrette dressing. For our entree, Granby and Henry chose classic veal scaloppine in Marsala sauce with green beans, grilled cherry tomatoes, and creamy mashed potatoes. Dessert was Tiramisu.
Our waiter is Jason and his assistant is Arlene.
We have two more people, Maida and Graham, at our table. No one was coming to their table, so they joined us to have people to talk with during dinner. They seem very nice and now our table for eight is complete.
When we arrived at the Florentine Dining Room on Deck 5 at 12 noon, we had our picture taken with Captain Philip Pickford.
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