Dunedin and Port Chalmers

You just can’t beat the hospitality of old friends, can you?  Not only did they invite us around to their home to spend the day with them, serve us delicious home cooked food plus copious cups of coffee and cake, but they didn’t bat an eyelid when we arrived with two big bags of laundry.  “It’s no trouble at all”, we were assured, so two loads of laundry was machine washed and hung out on the line.  There is nothing which turns me into a happy camper like getting all the laundry washed and dried.  All this and a whistle stop tour of Dunedin too.  Dunedin is full of beautiful old  buildings, and is said to be the best preserved Victorian and Edwardian heritage city in the Southern hemisphere.  The majestic Dunedin Railway Station is said to be the most photographed building in New Zealand. 

Dunedin Railway Station

Walking through the main doors you are transported into a wonderland of mosaics and stained glass.  The decorations leave no doubt that this building is a railway station, and although the main trunk carries only freight south of Christchurch, tourist excursions depart regularly.  . 

Mosaics featuring trains

Engine on the stained glass window

Dunedin was settled by migrants from Scotland – in fact Dunedin is the old Gaelic word for Edinburgh, and the city has a definite Scots flavour.  A statue of Robert Burns (the National Poet of Scotland) gazes over the tree shaded Octagon in the heart of the city, and was the city’s first public sculpture, unveiled in 1887..

Robert Burns in the centre of Dunedin

We then drove around the coast to Port Chalmers, the region’s busy port, where logs of pinus radiata were waiting to be loaded.  From the lookout up on the hill the views were glorious, looking down on the working port below and out to sea. 

Port Chalmers

Looking out to sea

Away in the distance we could see the lovely old Iona Church, one of the earliest churches built in the region.

Iona Church, Port Chalmers

Then it was time to go back to our host’s home for lunch and get that laundry hanging out to dry.  We chattered the day away, catching up on news, and reminiscing about old times when we were all so much younger.  Thanks very much to Colin and Merilyn – there’s no doubt about it, old friends are the best friends. 

Colin, Merilyn, Jenny and Robin