Day 7 - Dunedin (New Zealand's Scottish city)

Memorable for its historical architecture, Dunedin is one of the best preserved Victorian and Edwardian cities in the southern hemisphere. The tourist “talk” is that it is the most Scottish town outside Scotland but we didn’t see or hear much evidence of an explicit Scottish flavour.


We arrived and berthed at the wood chip berth (becoming a familiar theme . . . . ) in Port Charmers - a major container and general cargo port located near the entrance to Otago Harbour. Port Charmers is also the adjacent small town that supports the shipping port facilities for Dunedin and the Otago District.


One of Port Charmers claims to fame - it was the last port visited by Scott before heading south on his final expedition to Antarctica. From the deck of our cruise ship we could see the large stone monument that stands above the town dedicated to Scott's final expedition.


The "mandatory" item on our itinerary was a visit to the Dunedin Railway Station. In its early days, the station was the country's busiest, handling up to 100 trains a day. The station's main platform is also apparently the country's longest. Sadly, only a handful of trains use the station today including the Taieri Gorge Railway tourist train – an excursion many of our cruise passengers took


Today the station's uses have greatly diversified. Much of its ground floor is now used as a restaurant, and the upper floor is home to both the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the Otago Art Society.

As you can see from the pictures, the Flemish style of architecture is pretty stunning which makes this building one of the most photographed structures in the South Island. The booking hall features a mosaic floor of almost 750,000 Minton tiles, and a frieze of Royal Doulton porcelain runs around the balcony above it, from which the floors design (featuring a locomotive and related symbols) can be more clearly viewed.
The Anglican Cathedral, St. Pauls was an interesting place to visit. Contrasting the gothic architecture of the main part of the building, the Chancery was only designed and completed in 1971. Its design is modern and features lots of glass panels allowing light into a traditionally dark space. It also has some beautiful stained glass windows and an amazing cream sandstone vaulted ceiling.



As we steamed out of the port on our way to Lyttelton Harbour in the late afternoon, we caught a glimpse of the only Royal Albatross breeding colony on the NZ Mainland, seals basking on the rocks and a picturesque lighthouse and cottage.


More tomorrow.