Day 4 Dunedin
John had
been looking forward to this day. Overnight the boat had docked in Dunedin. We
had breakfast looking out to Port Chalmers and the green hills of the
surrounding farms. We were tied up next to the Viking Orion. The grumbling
headache was back but having paid $175 for the excursion ticket, I batted away
the pain, scoffed some pills and got on with it. After breakfast we went down
to the theatre for the briefing and separation into carriage groups. I got
talking to a guy from Ballarat and somehow got on to Ginny painting her tiles.
He said he had friends who had done the same thing and it had been successful.
To leave
the ship we had to go through passport control, but it was quite a circumspect
check. Then we walked across the gangplank past an enormous stack of logs
apparently destined for paper and cardboard making. We had been allocated to
carriage E which was a vintage affair made in the 1930s. Our guide was a cheery
volunteer called Prue. As soon as we were seated, there were drinks. We weren’t
used to being offered wine and beer at 10.30 in the morning. Then there were
snacks and a huge lunch. Of course there was afternoon tea and then a bag of
lollies. We were well taken care of.
The 300
plus metre train travelled through the Taieri Gorge. It made its way through
the suburbs of Dunedin, across the Wingatui plains and then climbed into the
gorge. This gorge went on forever. Dizzying falls appeared on either side of
the train track as we travelled along iron bridges and viaducts that were
created about 130 years ago. At the bottom of each valley their snaked a tannin
stained watercourse. The hills were covered in sheep. God knows how they kept
their footing on those steep sided outcrops. The journey was truly impressive.
At the end
of the outbound journey we had a brief stop and never missing an opportunity to
sell stuff to tourists, a market had been set up under the trees at Pukarangi.
We resisted the temptation to buy tatt or to be seduced by a busker on a ukulele
and just took a short walk instead. We were encouraged to have a look at the
train station and its amazing tile work. Pretty though it was, I think the fuss
over the interior was overdone. As John said, when you have seen the mosque in
Cordoba, the railway station in Dunedin doesn’t even raise an eyebrow. The trip
on the train was a good chance for us to see a bit of inland NZ as most of our
journey is around the coast.
By the time
we arrived back to Port Chalmers, the weather had become distinctly cooler and
it was no fun waiting on the wharf for the passport check and bag x ray before
we could return to the boat. After over six hours on the train we were both
pretty tired and really couldn’t face a fancy dinner and entertainment. We went
up on deck to see the ship pass by the world’s biggest albatross breeding
ground, then had a lovely dinner at the Lido. As we sat down to dinner the sky
darkened and a mist swept in giving the landscape very wintery look. Johnny had
Ling and I went for the angus beef roast. I asked the server if I could have it
well done and instantly it was returned to the kitchen and brought out just as
I wanted it. Now that’s service.
All we both
wanted to do, was crawl into our jammies and cuddle up under the covers. I
don’t care who is singing out her heart in the Britannia room. Bed is BEST,
especially when you have a British comedy on the TV and chocolates and port to
go with it.
