During
the night the ship rounded the southern coast of New Zealand’s South Island and
transited the strait between South Island and New Zealand’s third island
Stewart Island. The ship’s swaying
calmed as the waves grew smaller. This morning the ship docked at the Port of
Otago by the town of Port Chalmers. The large city 20 minutes away is Dunedin,
New Zealand, on the southern coast of New Zealand. Dunedin is one of the largest cities on the
South Island with a population of 125,000. The main city area lies on the coast
of the province of Otago. The hills
surrounding the city are the remains of an extinct volcano. New Zealand’s population is about 3.5 million.
The weather is cooler than in
Australia. This morning was 12 C, the
sun was shining and there was only a slight wind. The ship docked in a working port. There is a long pier of logs and another dock
was crowded with containers. We needed
jackets for today’s excursion.
Near the port entrance on the Otago Peninsula
was the location of the area’s first lighthouse in 1864. The Maori’s
traditional name of the point, for over 700 years, is Pukekura. It is now Taiaroa Head Reserve which has the
Royal Albatross Center, a sanctuary for the Royal Albatross bird.
New Zealand was a British colony, but in
1870, the British decided that the colony should be responsible for its own
defense. When Britain objected to Tsarist Russia’s 1885 invasion of Afghanistan,
Fort Taiaroa, was built on the site in the late 1880s as protection against the
threat of invasion from Russia.
The group of 22 was guided today by the
guide and driver, Peter. Our first stop
was in Dunedin. As we drove into the
city we noticed that the houses here are also roofed in either tile or
corrugated metal. The Maori had settled the region which they called, Otepoti,
before the Scottish settlers arrived in 1848. As we passed the village of St. Leonard, Peter
told us that it was the home of the New Zealand skipper of America’s Cup Yacht
Race winner, Russell Cootes. In 1882
from the Port of Otago, the first shipment of frozen lamb and mutton was sent
to England, on the ship Dunedin, only taking a record breaking 93 days to get
there.
Dunedin is the oldest New Zealand city and
until the 1900s its main city. The Victorian and Edwardian architecture, using
the area’s limestone and volcanic blue stone, is visible in the grand buildings
like the Railway Station, Law Courts and St. Paul’s Anglican Church. The 1861 gold rush, in center of the province
of Otago, made Dunedin the door to the gold fields. The fortunes helped fund the construction of
these buildings. In 2014, Dunedin was
named UNESCO City of Literature.
Our first visit was to the Flemish Renaissance
style Dunedin Railway Station
which is the final of three stations built on the site between 1873 and 1906. It is a wonderfully preserved building that
is still used as a train station. A
balcony runs around the mezzanine floor, looking down into the main entry
lobby. The front of the station has a
colourful garden, from where you can see the Law Courts, the old Women’s Prison
or look up Stuart Street to St. Paul’s Church.
One street over is the Cadbury World, a chocolate factory and retail
store, which will be closing 2018 and the production moved to Australia. Next the bus circled around the Octagon
passing the Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, the Chinese Garden with its entry arch
imported from China, Speight’s Brewery, where there is a spigot that anyone can
get the purest water in New Zealand from which the beer is made, the stately
Otago Boys School, Knox Church as well as the third construction of the gothic
style First Church of Otago (Presbyterian). Out to a suburb where the world’ steepest
street, Baldwin Street, attracts tourists. Back toward the city center, we
stopped at the Dunedin Botanic Garden with its impressive rose gardens,
conservatory and other gardens. Returning to the city we passed the University
of Otago where New Zealand’s only medical and dental schools are housed. The students live in some of the Victoria
cottages that line the streets around the university. The bus found a place to park near the
Octagon. It is the square at the city center which has a street leading to it
from the railway station. There is an outdoor market and free Wi-Fi. Surrounding it is St. Paul’s Anglican Church
and the Dunedin Town Hall, both built of the volcanic blue stone, which is
weathered to black. We grabbed a chicken
and cranberry sandwich, a package of almonds and an Apple, Mango and Passion
Fruit juice to share on the drive out to Penguin Place. Then went to a Wi-Fi hotspot to check emails
where we met Maureen and Bob checking their emails during free time before
their tour bus returned the ship.
The drive to the penguin reserve was about
45 minutes along the Otago Harbour road of the Otago peninsula; we could see
our ship on the far side of the harbour about four kilometers away. Part of the route was reinforced along the
shore by a black rock wall between the water and the road. It is 27 kilometers and was constructed with
prisoner labour. The harbour’s mouth is
narrow and shallow and is best traversed at high tide.
The group was divided into 2 parties of 14
or 15 to fit into the small buses. After
an introduction about the purpose of the reserve and the conservation efforts
to protect the Yellow Eyed Penguins, the buses took us over country gravel
roads to the rolling hills and beach area which is the Yellow Eyed penguins’
habitat. We were counseled to not talk as the bird were quite shy and we would
be walking in trenches so as to limit the disturbance to the penguins. From the trenches we observed four penguins
at different stages of molting. It
takes about four weeks for the old feathers to molt and the new ones to come
in. The penguins are vulnerable at that
time and cannot go to the ocean to catch fish, so have returned from the ocean
quite heavy in order to survive the molting as they will not eat again for four
weeks. Next we hiked to the cliffs above
the beach where the penguins leave for and return from the ocean. Laying about on the nearby grass were several
dozen young male seals basking in the sun and not paying much attention to
us. Also, in tiny boxes about 30 cm by
30 cm by 40 cm are shelters for the tiny “fairy” penguins who also call the
reserve home, but most were out for the day “fishing”. They return to land at night. Also on the reserve is a penguin hospital
where sick or injured penguins are kept until able to return to the wild. It was a delightful hike through the hills
accumulating about two kilometers for our daily total.
The drive back to the ship was along a
higher road away from the coast and wide enough for two small cars. We saw sheep grazing as well as cows and
horses. New Zealand only has about
25,000 sheep down 50,000 from 20 years ago.
Some passengers were dropped off at the Octagon to look around Dunedin
more and take the shuttle back to the ship.
We continued with the other to go back to the ship at Port Chalmers.
Once in the ship we picked up the laptop and
went into Port Chalmers to use the library Wi-Fi to post six days of entries to
the blog in less than an hour. The land
Wi-Fi is a lot faster than the ship’s $18 per day system. We were back on the ship well before the all
aboard time of 5:30 pm. It was enough time to open a bottle of Yalumba Voignier
white wine for a before dinner beverage.
The ship left on time at 6 pm.
We met Bob and Maureen for dinner in the
Dining room at our usual table for 4.
The appetizers chosen were Mulligatawny Soup and breaded mushrooms, then
the main course of Pork Medallions, mashed potatoes and carrots followed by
either white chocolate cheesecake or chocolate banana strudel.
There was no time for dancing since the blog
needed to be written and photos chosen.
Entertainment in the theater this evening
was a trio called “The Grove Line” who sang Motown, funk and soul music.
Steps:
15,003 Flights of Stairs: 67
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