After travelling from NP to Christchurch to Dunedin, we picked up our rental car with its superb but difficult to set, GPS. Our destination was Port Chalmers where we wanted to visit the Maritime Museum. It was a cold 10 degrees! What happened to summer?
Our destination was the Port Chalmers Maritime Museum which wed seen on TV before. It was well worth the visit and a credit to in recording the maritime history going back to the time of original immigrants and refrigeration ships in the mid to later 1800s. There were many models of old sailing ships, the history of Port Chalmers, ship wrecks, port development, the hardship of early immigrants, and the original exploration ships to Antarctic by Scott, Shackleton and Byrd. Also there were the relics taken from the ships over time.
We wandered up the main street to view the very old buildings and encountered a very strange woman who we think was probably a trans. She said we should at least keep going and go out to Aramoana to see the sea lions and groin built at the heads. The man in the museum suggested having lunch and a drink at
Black volcanic rocks jut out onto the beach. This view has a hole at the top looking through to the sky
It was a long winding road out to Aramoana which we remembered from the massacre of 13 people during 1990. It is a typical Kiwi Bach type of old location from the past. We parked at the surf beach and walked through the sand hills to the beach where we encountered a huge sea lion just heading out off the beach and into the waves. Along the beach a bit further were some amazing volcanic rocks with a hole right through showing the sky. We encountered some oyster catcher birds on the way back and nestled down in a hollow in the maram grass on the track back was a sleepy sealion.
We then drove around the beach further to the groin which was a rebuild of the old wooden one, made to guide ships into the Otago Harbour. On the other side of the heads was a lighthouse and buildings looking out over the harbour entrance. It was worth the unplanned drive out.
On the way back we stopped into the old Careys Bay Hotel and Cafe. It was yet another 1880s vintage building about 1km from the
The headland across from Aramoana showing the lighthouse and buildings watching over the entrance to the Otago Harbour
We still had time in our day to visit the Botanical Gardens and do some walking. We parked at the top car park and walked the many paths through various themed areas, like the rhododendron dell, native plants, savannah plants, lebanese cedars, a look out and lastly a stand of huge trees - pines, cedars and gums. The latter must have been the original plants as they were huge in height and girth. Lastly we drove down to the bottom main entrance and walked through gardens of perennials, roses and indoor plants. It was a must see location if you love parks and gardens.
We set our motel into the GPS and headed through the city and up to the top of the green belt on very steep streets. We have a nice big room in a Motor Lodge and Conference Centre. A good location, not far from downtown.
Our first impressions of Dunedin are that it is a city of interesting history, amazing views, steep hills
