Holy popsicle stick Batman!
Someone turned off the heat here in southern New Zealand. Just after writing about how nice the weather
has been on this cruise, today it is cold and wet. The expected high will only be 13 degrees and
we’re being told that there is a possibility of snow tomorrow as we go through
the fjords on the west coast. Hey, it
supposed to be summer down here!
Last night our ship cruised south to Port Chalmers, which is
the entrance way to the city of Dunedin.
This will be our last landing in New Zealand.
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of
New Zealand. In 1848 a Scottish settlement was established and until the end of
the 19th century many thousands of Scots emigrated to Dunedin.
Dunedin became wealthy during the Central Otago Gold Rush, beginning in the
1860s.
The city population is 120,246 and the university adds
another 20,000 residents. On the
approach to downtown, we passed a indoor rugby stadium that has a
capacity of 31,000 fans.
Our first stop was the Otago Museum. Here we had a guided tour of the exhibit of
the Māori culture on the southern island of New Zealand.
The second exhibit was a natural history gallery, where we got see some of native
species of animals. The most impressive was a huge
bird called the Moa, which was hunted to extinction.
Next, we went to the Olveston Historical House. Olveston was built for a wealthy Dunedin importer
named David Theomin, and his family. Theomin was a noted collector of art and furniture. Intended for future generations of Theomin’s to enjoy, this was not to be the case as both the Theomin children died without heirs. Surviving the death of her father, mother and elder brother, Miss Dorothy Theomin lived at Olveston until her death in 1966, when the house and the original contents were gifted to the City of Dunedin.
We able to tour the entire house and saw the many bedrooms, parlours
and dining room. They were filled with
art collections and priceless antique furniture. Our guide was amazing. You could tell she had experience in the theater.
Her annunciation was flawless, and she was able to use dramatic pauses to emphasize
her presentation. Unfortunately, we were
not allowed to take any photographs.
On the way back to the ship, we stopped at the Dunedin
railway station. This is the most
photographed location in New Zealand.
Tonight, on the boat it another formal night in the dinning
room. We both had Moroccan lamb kabobs.
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