Dunedin to Pukerangi: a trip on the Taieri Gorge Railway

There was a bit of rain this morning but it cleared up by the time I finished breakfast and voyaged out around 10:30.

I went to the Otago Settlers Museum which is a social history museum of the area. It was very interesting. Well laid out and informative with great exhibits. Dunedin certainly has quality museums. There was one exhibit about the Scottish settlers and their long sea voyage that I particularly enjoyed. They had some diary excerpts of some of the settlers (much like my blog filled with info about the weather, the ships's cats and which sauvignon blanc was served with lunch -- well, maybe not the last bit). Imagine such a long journey knowing you would never return or likely ever see people again. How completely different things are now as we can move around the world and keep in touch constantly. But, also, how exciting it must have been to some who were looking for a better life.

Then I popped back up to the Octagon to the Nova cafe (only a few places were open today). The owner of the hotel recommended the cafe -- in fact, he said since I should go there a few times while in Dunedin. I had the African Eggs (dukkah-crusted poached eggs with asparagus and hollandaise sauce on toast). Dukkah is an Egyptian spice blend with nuts. It was delicious and went very well with a glass of "Astrolabe" sauvignon blanc (attention Val G. -- very nice with eggs!!).

Then I was off to the railway station to board the 2:30 train through the Taieri Gorge. Many people take the train in order to meet up with the bus to Queenstown or to Middlemarch in order to cycle or hike the Otago Rail Trail (something I would love to come back to do some day). But you can take it as a four-hour return trip which is what I did.

The railcars are vintage cars and I was lucky to be one of the old Victorian cars with tin ceilings and wooden interiors. The landscape is quite nice (once you leave the suburbs of Dunedin you only see a few houses and lots of sheep). The train stops in a few places so you can take photos and there are some pretty spectacular viaducts that you cross.



I liked this statue at one of the stops that was dedicated to all the sheepdogs that have worked the hills over the years...


(Had a nice chat on the train with a lawyer from Wellington who had been to the Rita Angus exhibit at the art gallery as well. She knew quite a bit about the artist.)

The train got back to Dunedin around 6:30. I stopped for some sushi for dinner and am now back at the hotel for a quiet evening. It doesn't really get dark till going on 10 pm so it is nice to still have some hours of sunlight.

Tomorrow I will be off in search of sea lions and, very exciting, penguins. Hopefully the rain holds off.