Tuesday, 2nd January 2018
Another busy and interesting day getting to know how the first settlers came to Dunedin and how they began building Dunedin to be the wonderful city it is today. We also took a train journey in the afternoon to the Taieri Gorge – a railway built in 1870’s to link the central Otagu agricultural areas with Dunedin.
We started off the day with again a good breakfast prepared by Eve and Ralph (he’s the fried eggs champion!) and then drove down to Dunedin Train Station area. We’ve been blessed with another wonderfully warm and sunny day so our walk around was quite pleasant. Today it’s also a public holiday in NZ – Most probably the kiwis need an extra day to recuperate from their January 1st celebrations??? Anyway this meant free parking close to the station and the museum we were visiting! Also all museums have free entrance which make them accessible to everyone, however we did leave a donation!
The Toitū Otago Settlers Museum is a museum of social history dedicated to telling the story of the people of Dunedin and the surrounding area, whose character, culture, technology, art, fashion and transport shaped New Zealand’s first great city.
It is set out chronologically, from the first Kai Tahu explorers right up to modern times. The museum traces the development of the City of Dunedin and the province of Otago.
The museum has fourteen themed galleries with interactive displays and powerful narratives tracing the human history of the area, from the earliest settlers to the most recent arrivals.
It is most fascinating to see how the early Scottish settlers sailed to Dunedin and how they started building the city – most of the settlers were Presbyterians from Edinburgh and in fact the town would have been called New Edinburgh as many of the buildings look as though they have been plucked out of the old town. One of the exhibition rooms was built as a ship transporting the early settlers across the ocean waves and their shipboard experience: how they lived on board through storms, sickness, fights and love till they arrived to Dunedin.
We were able to experience the rough passage of migration, the boom period of gold, the glamour of Victorian Dunedin and the changing world of transport and technology! Our visit was only a couple of hours but we could have spent much more time – there is so much to see and experience.
Before we went to our next event of the day, we had coffee and a snack at the outdoor museum café. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting outdoors enjoying the sun, although it took quite a while to get our coffee……
We strolled to the train station which was only a few meters away from the Museum and after exchanging my voucher for the tickets, we spent some time looking around the station – unfortunately I could not take any pictures of the building outside as there were a number of tourist busses parked outside and they spoilt the view. However indoors it was magnificent – it was as though time stood still! The foyer and booking hall’s elaborate ornamentation is bathed in a soft golden light that reinforces the wealth of the city of Dunedin at the time.
Dunedin Station is an example of the city’s wealthy inheritance and in its prosperous years handled some 100 trains daily. Construction was started in 1903 and officially opened in 1906 . The combination of over the top decoration and the intricate use of contrasting dark basalt and white Oamaru limestone earned its architect the nickname “Gingerbread George”.
Nowadays, a farmers market runs in Anzac Square just outside the station every Saturday morning; unfortunately we are leaving Dunedin before we get to see the farmers’ market. But we did get the sightseeing train which runs from the station through the Taieri Gorge this afternoon.
The trip to Pukerangi is 58 km and we slowly climbed some 250 meters on the way along the gorge. One of the largest wrought iron structures in the southern hemisphere is the Wingatui Viaduct, which is some 190meters long and 47 meters high above the Mullocky stream. The other structure of such magnitude and containing so much wrought iron is the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Is een prachtige trein trip met mooie vergezichten en het mooie treinstation in Dunedin
Ja zeker! wij hebben echt genoten van de trip en zeer relaxt!