Sunday – October 28, 2018
My brother, Bob, suggested that I take a photo out of our balcony door every morning to record the weather. It had been sunny and clear all the previous days so I didn’t post those photos, but this morning gray clouds were moving in and look very threatening.
The ship entered the protected harbor of Port Chalmers and followed the channel markers to its assigned dock. Two tugboats assisted in the docking procedure. Port Chalmers is the commercial port for the city of Dunedin in the southern part of New Zealand. I watched as one of the tugs kept the Majestic from touching the large container ship which was docked nearby. The tugboats are really big, but look small in comparison to the large ships around them.
We had several options in Port Chalmers. We could have taken a shuttle bus into the “Scottish” town of Dunedin and explored the city. It’s supposed to be a vibrant “college town” with a variety of pubs and great coffee. Dunedin is the Gaelic name for Edinburgh in Scotland and was named by the early Scottish settlers. We also could have explored the lovely town of Port Chalmers on foot. We opted to ride the famous Taieri River Gorge Railway which travels inland so we could see some of the interior of south New Zealand.
The train picked us up right at the dock near our ship. Very convenient! We sat in the comfort of vintage 1940s railroad cars and shared our adventure with a couple from Toronto Canada and two couples from Davenport, Iowa. The weather outside was grey and cool – 53 degrees – but warm and toasty in the train.
There are supposed to nine sheep to every one New Zealander. We rode past a number of bright green fields speckled with white sheep and young lambs.
It was a pleasant ride through the countryside. Spring flowers were in bloom and the deep valleys were lovely. The train stopped at the end of the line and we all got off to take pictures. Local people had set up tables filled with craft items to sell to the passengers. As we stretched our legs, the locomotive turned around and reconnected with the back of the train for the return journey. The host of our car mentioned that the engineer driving the train was a woman. Good for her!
The train drove back through the beautiful New Zealand hills and stopped at the famous Dunedin train station. This is reputed to be the “most photographed building in New Zealand.” We joined the other amateur photographers and took lots of pictures inside and outside the station.
The train took us back to the port which was a short 15 minute ride. We passed through ship’s security as a gentle rain fell on Port Chalmers. We enjoyed a nice relaxing day out in “the bush” as the New Zealanders call their remote interior.
The Port Chalmers’ tug boats waited for the Majestic Princess to depart. I watched a huge crane off load containers from the commercial ship on the adjacent dock.
