Dunedin

Michele kicks off her mammoth trip on 9th January 2012. Read her roving reports from the High Seas to her journey Down Under. Keeping you up-to-date with all the news as it happens.
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Michele Monro
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Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:31 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Dunedin

Post by Michele Monro » Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:26 am

Dunedin has the distinction of being settled by Scottish pioneers. Its name is in fact, the Gaelic word for Edinburgh. Beautiful gardens and elegant old homes grace this lovely city, the fourth largest in New Zealand and the region’s commercial center. Originally a Maori settlement, Dunedin was first discovered by European whalers in the early 1800s. By 1848 a group of cots settled here escaping religious persecution in their homeland. Like Christchurch, the city was surveyed and laid out before the colonists arrived, which gives it a neat and tidy air.

With the discovery of gold came thousands or prospectors, and the township more than doubled to 5,000 residents. The Scots, realizing that the boom would one day come to an end, turned their thoughts to the future. Many of New Zealand’s biggest manufacturers, importers and commercial and transport firms can trace their origins to early Dunedin. The raid growth of the region around the turn of the century left Dunedin with the largest concentration of Victorian and Edwardian buildings outside Britain. With more than 105,000 inhabitants, it is thought to be the best-preserved Victorian city in the world. The Sea Princess docked at Beach Street Wharf in Port Chalmers, which is located about seven or eight miles from Dunedin. The area experiences plenty of rain throughout the year and the weather is highly changeable with tropical cyclones and cold fronts causing occasional extreme conditions like hailstorms. Although fairly cold we were treated to a crisp day, which I was thankful for as I’d booked myself on the Taieri Gorge Train Tour and the scenery would have been ruined by continuous rain.

The Taieri Gorge Railway is a spectacular cruise line exclusive scenic train trip, which experiences a surprising variety of landscapes including city. Farmland, forests and the wild untamed Taieri River Gorge. Building the line was an amazing engineering feat and it took some sixteen years to build. Amazingly the train line has been built right into the wharf so the carriages come right alongside the ship. I was the first off the boat and high-tailed it down to the last carriage knowing that on the return journey it would become the front. Having placed my bag on the seat of my choice, I took my place on the carriage’s open-air platform. It gave me a great vantage point to take in all the sights on both sides of the track. The Emmy Award winning television series ‘Great Scenic Railway Journeys’ described this trip as one of the world’s greatest train trips. Our hosts were Bob and Eunice Sammes, who looked after me for the duration serving hot drinks as we pulled out of the wharf.

The first stop would normally have bee Dunedin Station itself but we were experiencing that last. Instead the train took us along the Otago Peninsula, which is arguably New Zealand’s most renowned eco tourism area affording unique opportunities to see Royal Albatross, blue penguins, a variety of seals and water and wading birds. The area was beautiful, with lush green pastures, small bays and inlets, sandy beaches, rugged hills and volcanic landforms. As the saying goes – take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints. I certainly got enough photographs, I couldn’t stop clicking. Travelling south through Dunedin’s suburbs we passed Carisbrook Stadium, scene of many epic international rugby and cricket tests, and home of the Highlanders and Otago rugby teams. I can’t begin to describe the ever-changing scenery en-route, it really was glorious. Next we passed the suburb of Abbotstford, the scene of a disastrous landslip in 1979, which affected seven hectares of land and destroyed 69 homes but luckily there were no human casualties. Looking at the area today it is difficult to imagine the chaotic scene created by the slip. It was bulldozed into smooth contours and some of the houses on the intact central block were relocated leaving the town as a series of playing fields and parkland. The line then goes through Caversham in a deep cutting before entering Caversham Tunnel emerging just before Green Island, another commercial suburb.

The popular story behind the naming of Wingatui is that an early settler shot and wounded a tui bird. He rescued the stricken bird whose wing was damaged and took it home. His wife said “ Well William, the first place you get, you will call it Wing-a-tui”. The station has a gable roof, a cantilevered verandah and numerous finials and it has now been preserved, as it is the last example of this type of station in the area. From Wingatui Junction, the railway heads northwest across the Taieri Plains. Before settlement the plains were swampy and flood prone but when drained the land ‘s fertility and milder climate led to intensive land use. A the train leaves the main line, Wingatui Racecourse is on the right and 3km beyond on the left is the Aerodrome. The township of Mosgiel is to the south and has been called ‘God’s Waiting-Room’. Out of a population of 10,000 people, around 800 live in eight retirement complexes.

After crossing Silver Stream Bridge the line passes through a high spur at Salisbury, involving a climb of 100 metres, three tunnels and a very large horseshoe bend. Salisbury Tunnel (437m) is the longest on the Taieri Gorge line and there are natural soda springs near the tunnel mouth. The line follows Mullocky Gully to the Taieri River. Wingatui Viaduct, 197m long and 47m above Mullocky Stream, is one of the largest wrought iron structures in the Southern Hemisphere. When the viaduct was opened in 1887 this was a barren, tussock- covered valley but now the gully is filled with dense shrub with commercial pine forests running around the rim of the valley. The bridge has eight wrought iron lattice trusses on two concrete pipes and five braced malleable iron piers. The abutments are of rubble masonry built on grey schist stone found near the site. The iron piers are on bases of concrete, rubble masonry resting on solid rock or piled foundations. Not only is it the largest bridge on the Otago Central Line but it’s also the 13th highest railway bridge in New Zealand. The train runs on through the area of Parera. This was once a crossing station and has no road access at all. The cottage at the station was the railway employee’s house. The dwelling is now used as a holiday home for the retired stationmaster and when they need to get larger items to the house, they have to man haul a trolley along the track.

The railway continues to follow the Taieri River for the next 26km passing Mount Allan, Little Mount Allan, a former water stop for steam locomotives and Christmas Creek, where another curved viaduct sits. Hindon (71m above sea level) is at the bottom of the gorge by the river. A road climbs the west side of the gorge to flat undulating farmland and a main road. This is still a crossing station and the train stopped here for 15 minutes so we could stretch our legs and take pictures. From Hindon the line climbs in a big U-bend as it starts the steady climb to the west bank of the river. This part of the gorge is dry, rocky and narrow. The line completes the climb to eventually emerge from the gorge near an area known as Pukerangi, which means ‘Hill of Heaven’. This was the end of the line for our trip and the train switched ends for our return journey. We stretched our legs again and explored the small market, which had come especially to set up for us; apparently we are the last train of the season so haggling was allowed.

Our route back passed The Notches, which was the most spectacular part of the trip, where the line traverses four deep gulches. Flat Steam Viaduct is unusual in that it is one of the few curved bridges on the line. The bridge was built on-site and is the second largest in the gorge. The area has a splendid waterfall that cascades down the hill. We had no further stops until nearly the end of the tor when we stopped at Dunedin Station itself. It has the longest platform in the country and at over 400m, it can accommodate TGR’s longest trains. The canopy at 300 odd metres is constructed of steel, iron and glass and is lightly ornamented. The original design of the station had four ticket booths on the east side of the central foyer and the word ‘Tickets’ can still be seen spelt out in the tiles. We had 20 minutes to explore before the train left to take us back to the ship. We were given the choice of staying in town and making our own way back but I passed up on this option. The station is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand and it was easy to see why. The building is beautiful and is a great example of Victorian architecture at its best. The station shop had all manner of wares to tempt the traveler away from their cash and I was drawn to a couple of stamps that were commissioned for the Chinese New Year.

Dunedin boasts many attractions including the steepest street in the world and New Zealand’s smallest bar. The town also has a reputation for fine arts on top of a colourful student life, unique cuisine and quirky events. Dunedin has a creative edge that is celebrated annually with fashion design shows attracting national and international designers with thousands attending the shows. Clothing and design has long been associated with the area, dating back to the late 1800s when the city was the leading garment manufacturing centre of the country.

Aboard the train for the last time and 15 minutes later we were pulling back into Beach Street Wharf. It was just gone 2.00pm and with plenty of time before the Sea Princess sailed I went into Port Chalmers to walk through the town. It only took half an hour, as there were less than a dozen shops, two eateries and a pub. The most stunning building was the local church but most of the street was closed for the end of season, but at least I saw everything on offer.

Maori words that were useful:

Welcome: Haere Mai
Hello: Kia ara
Goodbye: Haere ra

So there you have it, Dunedin and Port Chalmers in a whistle stop, the only thing I missed was sampling the local famous beers at Speight’s Brewery and a visit to New Zealand’s only castle, Larnach.

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