Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Pretty much routine, so far. Today M and I are going our separate ways as M has already told you. It’s the first time we have done separate things since we started our holiday. As M is plundering I am sightseeing the Taieri Gorge formed by the river of the same name over thousands of years.
It leads into Central Otago which is now mainly a livestock farming area although viticulture is on the increase in suitable places. The only problem is that to get there will involve travelling by train as there aren’t roads through the gorge. So, if that is the only mode of transport, then that’s what I’ll have to take!
OK, yes Margery didn’t want to do yet another train journey, so here goes.
The Teieri Gorge Railway is all that remains of the Otago Central Railway which ran from Wingatui 13km south of Dunedin to Cromwell opening up Crown lands and enabling produce and supplies to be shipped to and from Dunedin.
The railway was closed by the Minister of Railways on 30th April 1990, but simultaneously the Mayor of Dunedin announced that the city would buy the line through to Middlemarch at a cost of NZ$ 1 million. This is how the 64km privately owned railway came into being.
It was originally worked by steam but is now entirely diesel worked (shame) and the trains run from sea level to a maximum altitude of 254 metres (825 ft) and travels through 12 tunnels and over one of the largest wrought iron structures (Wingatui Viaduct 197m long and 47 metres high) in the southern hemisphere. The railway journey is claimed to be one of the most spectacular in the world. I can’t comment since I’ve not done a lot of the others, yet!!
Dunedin station is a NZ tourism icon with its Royal Dalton mosaic tiles and its stained glass window. Built in 1906, it was designed and constructed to impress everyone who travelled to Dunedin whether arriving by rail from other parts of NZ or from overseas. Everyone arrived and departed from Dunedin at the railway station which is what I am doing today.
I meet Margery after a 4 hour round trip and we have lunch before going to the Otago Museum where there is a “rainforest area” with butterflies flying all around you. They are so used to people that they will actually settle on you. Some of them had a wing span of approx 6” and glided around the plants. With such amazing colours we were transfixed as we walked around. We know it is an artificial environment but....The luminous green gecko was very cool (sweet in NZ parlance).
Margery had been sussing out places to eat this evening. She has identified a restaurant named The Palms near the station, which has a promising menu. As it turned out it was an exceptionally good meal and certainly the best we have had whilst in NZ. So, maybe Masterchef has displaced McDonalds in the expectancy stakes. Certainly, the proof ...was very much in the eating. Even better, all produce was said to be locally sourced.
We are moving on to Omaru and Timaru tomorrow. So, we’ll be back on the road again. We might be out of touch for a day or two.
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