25 Nov 2018 - Cruise Day 5: Dunedin Railways (The Seasider)

After three full day on the cruise ship, today we finally reached our first Port of Call (Dunedin).  We docked at Port Chalmers at about 8am.  When I looked out from our balcony, I can see rows and rows of logs, ready to be exported, mostly to China.

Once we finished our breakfast, we disembarked the ship and walked towards Port Chalmers building where there were multiple counters advertising their Dunedin excursions.  These are mainly for those guests who did not book any shore excursion on board the cruise.  We looked around briefly and booked a "Train + City Bus" tour.

First, we took the bus to Dunedin Railways Station where we needed to catch a train at 10am.

There are two types of train namely the Taieri Gorge Railway and the Seasider.  As the former one was fully booked, we went on the Seasider.

It's unfortunate that today is a wet and cloudy day.  As such, most of our photos turned out to be quite gloomy.

Departing from the magnificent Dunedin Railway Station, the Seasider travels along the edge of the picturesque Otago Harbour, before climbing the gentle slopes above Port Chalmers, a pretty port-side town. At the top of the hill, the train emerges to look over the dazzling Blueskin Bay, revealing breathtaking views over bays, inlets and beaches.

This is a 90 mins return trip (Dunedin - Waitati - Dunedin).  When we reached Waitati, the train attendants helped to turn around our seats as we will be travelling the opposite direction back to Dunedin.

It's still raining when we returned to Dunedin Railways Station.  However, that did not stop us from exploring The Octagon, Dunedin city centre.

Back to Itin        Next