Sunday, February 4, 2018, Port Chalmers (Dunedin), NZ, Otago Peninsula Scenic Drive

- February 06, 2018

Dunedin (Māori: Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The urban area lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, surrounding the head of Otago Harbor. The harbor and hills around Dunedin represent the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city suburbs extend out into the surrounding valleys and hills, onto the isthmus of the Otago Peninsula, and along the shores of the Otago Harbor and the Pacific Ocean. Dunedin was the largest New Zealand city by territorial land area until superseded by Auckland on the creation of the Auckland Council in November 2010.

Archaeological evidence points to the area having been long inhabited by Māori prior to the European arrival. The province of Otago takes its name from the Ngai Tahu village of Otakou at the mouth of the harbor, that became a whaling station in the 1830s.

In 1848 a Scottish settlement was established by the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland (a break-away group from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland). Reverend Chalmers was directed to look for five features when scouting New Zealand: Lime ( xxx), good fresh water source, coal for cooking and heat, deep water port, and seven hills (to mimic their home area of Edinburgh). After scouting the NZ area and returning to plan and organize the move, he died a few months before the planned move. Reverend Burns was selected to take his place (later his nephew Robert grew up in NZ). Between 1855 and 1900 many thousands of Scots emigrated to the incorporated city. Dunedin became wealthy during the central Otago Gold Rush, beginning in the 1860s. In the mid-1860s, and between 1878 and 1881, it was New Zealand's largest urban area. The city population at 5 March 2013 was 120,246. While Tauranga, Napier-Hastings and Hamilton have eclipsed the city in size of population since the 1980s to make it only the seventh-largest urban area in New Zealand, Dunedin is still considered one of the four main cities of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons.

Dunedin has a diverse economy, which includes manufacturing, publishing and technology-based industries as well as education, research and tourism. The city's most important activity centers around tertiary education – Dunedin is home to the University of Otago, New Zealand's oldest university (established 1869), and the Otago Polytechnic. Students account for a large proportion of the population; 21.6 percent of the city's population was aged between 15 and 24 at the 2006 census, compared to the New Zealand average of 14.2 percent. In 2014 Dunedin was designated as a UNESCO City of Literature.

We docked at Port Chalmers because the water is not deep enough at Dunedin for our cruise ship.

Shipping portion of Port Chalmers.

We rode a shuttle bus from Port Chalmers into Dunedin, about a 10-mile, 20-minute ride. First stop: Historic train station.

Train station flower gardens.

Our second stop was at a great Settlers Museum that had artifacts from the early 1800s thru the mid-2000s.

Initial train locomotive in Dunedin.

Maori Canoe.

Maori hut (above) and personal ornament (below).

Hand-made table for use in one of Dunedin's banks.

Remember these? We do.

Would we have lived in this for 12 years? Doubtful!

Remember these gas pumps? Larry does.

High court; had been closed for seven years with suspected structural damage. Was due to reopen the day after we were there.

Womens' prison that had not been used for fifteen years. Kept for historic purposes.

Statue of Robert Burns, Dunedin poet.

Church converted to a theater (above) and apartments (below).

Both bus drivers today were quick to point out their new rugby stadium and reminded us several times that rugby is New Zealand's national sport and that they are world champions.