Monday, January 1, 2024
Today was our last port of call for the cruise - Port Chalmers/Dunedin, near the southern tip of New Zealand's south island. We began our entry into the port around 9 a.m. and were docked sometime after 10 a.m. This was the only port of call that I didn't book any excursions for. The big attraction is actually the city of Dunedin which is about 10 miles from the port and features some lovely victorian homes and a castle - Larchmont Castle. Instead, Carl and I decided to just get off the ship this afternoon and walk into/around Port Chalmers. Being New Year's Day, quite a few of the shops in town weren't open. It really is just a little port town. But it was fun to walk around. The views were very pretty. This day also started out like in Picton, with sort of gray skies and very cool winds.
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| Coming into Port Chalmers - view from the Majestic |
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| Approaching Port Chalmers - as seen from Deck 17 |
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| Lush greenery of Port Chalmers |
We spent the morning, as is our custom, at the pool and hot tub up in the Holly Wood pool on Deck 17. Came down to our stateroom just after 11 a.m. and started getting ready to get off the ship. I guess we picked the time most people were trying to get off because it took us a while to get off the ship. Then it was a LONG walk to the cruise terminal. There's another Princess ship docked here today (the Royal Princess). When we got to the terminal it was packed with people crowding all over (from both cruise ships) trying to get on their various tours. All we wanted to do was exit the building and explore the little town of Chalmers. No easy feat!
We did, however, finally make it out of the terminal building and there were lots of friendly local constabulary about to help us cross streets without getting run over. We walked up the length of the main business street and stopped in a shop or two. I picked up a pair of paua shell earrings shaped like kiwi birds! I also got a lovely purple scarf that I plan to wear to dinner tonight. We also stopped at a hatmakers shop! I couldn't resist trying on a coral fascinator. Oh did I want to buy it (but I resisted)!
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| Anne in a 'fascinating' hat! |
One building in town that we could clearly see from the ship was a large church. We trudged up a pretty hefty hill to get a better look.
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| Distance view of Iona (Presbyterian) Church of Port Chalmers |
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| View from downtown of Iona Church |
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| Iona Church sign |
We were actually allowed/invited in to see the inside of the church and got a little brochure explaining the history of the church. The stone for this church (the 3rd since the church opened in 1852) was mined from the Port Chalmers quarry. The clock tower was constructed in 1885 and reinforced to new earthquake standards in 1970. The church has some beautiful stained glass windows.
The docent who was at the church said if we looked carefully, we could see in one of the panels that Jesus has 6 toes on one of his feet! Yup!
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| Stained Glass windows at Iona |
The church also includes members of the Port Chalmers Congregational Church and the Methodist Church.
There are some spectacular views of the town and the port/harbor as you come down off the church hill.
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| View of Port Chalmers (town) looking down from Iona Church |
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| Looking down the hilly street into town |
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| Distance view of headlands near Port Chalmers |
We had a lovely walk about town and wandered back to the ship around 2:30 p.m. This is the last time we'll set foot on ground now, until we land back in Sydney on Friday for our journey home!
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