We set off from Wellington airport for for the southern sun in Dunedin. Wellington airport have recently added to their Gollum sculpture with two giant eagles in the departure lounge:
When we arrived in Dunedin it was chilly and windy. We'd had a bit of a mishap on the car hire front, so spent the next half hour finding a new car, before setting off into the unknown of Dunedin, navigating by nothing more than a vague idea of where we were going, and street signs. Amazingly, we found our destination with very little trouble, settled ourselves in and went out for dinner at our pre-booked choice of restaurant, No. 7 Balmac.
After consulting the map provided at Reception, we decided to walk to the restaurant. Unfortunately, the map seriously foreshortened distances outside the central area, so we ended up walking for about half an hour before we reached it. When we got there, however, all was well, and we had a good dinner there before ordering a taxi to take us home.
The next morning dawned wet and miserable, as predicted by the weather forecasters. The whole of Christmas is being dominated by a low from across the Tasman, and it doesn't look like anywhere is going to enjoy good weather for the next few days. Undeterred, we nipped out for breakfast at the Everyday Gourmet, before heading into the centre of town to the i-site, and there booked ourselves onto the Taieri Gorge railway for the afternoon excursion. We then had a few hours to kill before leaving at 2:30, so we headed into the Otago Settler's Museum, which tells the history of the area. Originally a whaling and sealing town, known derogatorily as Mud-edin, it was transformed by the Central Otago gold rush of 1861, when it became New Zealand's largest city (it's now 5th largest, having recently been overtaken by Hamilton). Amongst many exhibits of New Zealand life, it included a roomful of pictures of old, dead people:
After a spot of lunch at Velvet Burger, we headed to Dunedin station to get on the train. Dunedin station is well-known (in New Zealand) for its architecture.
We boarded the Taieri Gorge train, and headed off uphill through the suburbs of Dunedin before reaching the part of the railway which is privately-owned, which goes up from Wingatui to Pukerangi; stopping along the way to allow us to take pictures of the picturesqueness of the Taieri Gorge. The railway goes over some spectacular viaducts:
Along the way we were provided with commentary about what we were seeing, and general hints and tips like "don't lean outside the viewing platforms when going through tunnels, as the walls are only a couple of inches wider than the trains".
The views on the way are more interesting than what's at the end of the line, so we took some more pictures on the way back down.
It was all very spectacular and full of geology and stuff. You can see more of this on Facebook when I get back to Wellington.
We got back at around 6:30, and then went out to Carey's Bay, to the Carey's Bay Historic Hotel for dinner. This has a reputation as being a great place for seafood, so we ordered...seafood. The view was less than spectacular, as it consisted of the container port opposite - this is strangely absent from their website. The food was good, though. We had a seafood platter, poisson cru, teriyaki gurnard and Thai red curry fish.
On the way back, the skies opened again, and there was a terrific downpour...although the sun was also shining, and a rainbow showing, whilst there was also a rumble or two of thunder.
Tomorrow's forecast is for more rain.
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