“Road’s closed for pedestrians” the workman said, “not possible to pass and no alternative.” We’re on mile 12 of a one-way walk along the edge of the inlet Otago Channel, at the end of which is Dunedin and at the mouth is where we left our ship at Judith Chalmers (obvs that’s not true, I mean Port Chalmers!)
Back track six hours, we walk from the ship to the cutest little harbour to catch the local taxi-boat. Captain Rachel expresses a little surprise at our plan, whereas her passenger, a conservationist on the way to a nearby island confirms this is a lovely walk. And that’s just the coast route, not with the detour I have planned.
After dropping off the conservationists at Akamai Taurus (aka Quarantine Island, guess what happened there!) we head to Portobello, the mainland on the other side of the Otoga Channel. Walking back towards Dunedin after a few miles we turn up a track, aiming for a castle. The pathway uphill is beautiful and crosses unspoilt countryside, forever climbing, until we eventually find Larnach Castle, a lovely Scottish homestead complete with piper wailing (I mean playing) on the steps of the entrance.
We only pay for garden entry as we have a full day to cover so take a well earned rest with cake and iced tea before exploring the beautifully tended gardens for a while then continue on our walk towards Dunedin. We’re on the ridge, well above the water So we need to drop back down and take a path that is posted as a right of way back to the water, but it’s clear no-one has exercised their right for a good while, and machete-less as we are we have a hilarious time fighting the fauna and the very steep gradient as we descend.
Finally back on the coastal road we continue into a section of road works that gets increasingly busy. The said workman explains we’re not going to get though, happily this is a very different life, and continues “but I’ll chuck you in the truck and drive you through it” so for the first time ever we’re in a lorry being driven through a construction site!! This saves a couple of miles from our walk which by this time we’re quite grateful for.
Next we walk into Dunedin past all the out-of-town stores like car dealers and furniture warehouses, which is fortunate today as Hubby’s FitBit died last night so I’ve checked where we can buy a replacement and it’s at a Smith City which is a bit like DFS except oddly, each store has a Curry’s section of computers and white goods.
Purchase complete we head into town, checking out all the significant sights and sites, such as the old jail, law courts and beautiful railway station. Later we find the local Regent Theatre, modelled after Brighton’s Regent, and then pop into the art gallery for a while (one Monet but no Cannelloni FYI.)
We inadvertently catch the last shuttle bus back to the ship, as we’d not used one to get here we didn’t know the timetable, and arrive home in time to redress for sailaway on the bow (strong winds so require a layer or two!) and watch the albatross colony we pass close by to before emerge from the mouth of the channel.
Later we head directly to the main theatre for company show part one, dinner (fabulous steaks all round) and finally finish with the second half of the show.
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