Dunedin

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Hi everyone.

Our port for yesterday (Saturday) was Dunedin which has a strong Scottish ancestry. The Scots arrived about 1840 and put their stamp on a well-established Maori settlement. The town was originally called New Edinburgh. There are many beautifully preserved blue stone buildings that were built to reflect Scottish culture. Although the Presbyterian influence is strong, it wasn’t able to overcome the locals’ fondness for whisky and of course the patron saint of whisky, Robbie Burns. OK, I made that last bit up!! The photo shows Peter making a pilgrimage to the Robbie Burns pub.

Keeping up with the Scottish theme we came along two bagpipers busking in the main street. One of the buskers was a small boy about 4 or 5 who was dressed up in his kilt and playing toy bagpipes alongside his dad. It was so cute as you can see by the photo.

We had expected cold miserable weather because it looked so bleak from the ship. Wrong! We didn’t even need a jumper walking around Dunedin; it was very bright and sunny. We really have had dream weather while in various ports. I am praying that the weather god will continue to be kind to us. Speaking of weather we have read that Bundaberg is still having a miserable time. Hope our friends Vikki and Kevin are OK.

Dunedin really has it sorted out for tourists, apart from the fact that the shops don’t open until 10:00am. The tourism volunteers are everywhere to make sure you don’t get lost. The place is neat and tidy and unhurried. It was nice to have a bit of a walk around without 4000 ship mates being there too!! Just strolling around in the sun was relaxing despite a few hills.

In the middle of town there is an octagon rather than a square. It was originally laid out in the 1840’s and the council have managed to preserve a number of the old buildings. Unsurprisingly the area is presided over by a statue of Robbie Burns. I had great difficulty stopping Peter from reciting “Ode to the Haggis” in honour of the Bard.

On our meander, we came across quite a number of op shops and you all know how much I LOVE op shops. Neither of us really needed anything but we came back with several bags of purchases as you can see from the photo. Boy, didn’t we have a fun time rummaging around. I have vowed to release a few things before the end of the cruise so that I can fit my “new” stuff into the suitcase.

Looking like two packhorses, we struggled back to the ship about 2:30pm and grabbed a nice lunch at the Windjammer café. It’s such a pleasure to be able to sit and look out over panoramic view the harbour while you eat food that someone else has prepared; knowing you don’t have to wash the dishes afterwards. There are such a lot of staff that you only have to wait a moment before someone brings you a drink or clears away the dishes…we are completely spoiled.

Dunedin gave a rousing bagpipe farewell. We were piped away from the dock. They even played Waltzing Matilda for us!

xx pj and Sandy

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Comments

[Fiona van Dort]

Go the Scots!!
Where's the shot of Peter with a painted blue face ? "You will not take our freedom!!". hopefully he's got the scotch indulgenec out of his system for the trip ? Cheers Fi