Dunedin, 20 Oct.

The ship was actually docked at Port Chalmers. The channel up to Dunedin is much too narrow and shallow for a ship this size.

We didn't see much of Dunedin because we opted for the train ride to Taiere Gorge. The train picked us up right alongside the ship and then headed out. It went through the industrial part of Dunedin, which reminded me of Leadville – scenic in its own way, but...

The scenery was again very beautiful. They may call Ireland the Emerald Isle, but I can not imagine that it is any more green than this.These people do raise a lot of sheep. It is hard to take a picture that doesn't include a couple somewhere. In the pictures of the rocky crags of the gorge, look up toward the top and there they are. Sheep farms they call them, right on the tops of those cliffs, some without an electric utility because of the remoteness. They use solar power..

The train ride was very pleasant. They served Mimosas for our welcoming drink. Later was tea and “biscuits” (I would call them cookies). Lunch was a fairly standard box lunch, but wine was included. The choice of wine was between Riesling and a Sauvignon Blanc – all New Zealand wines.

Timber is a big industry here. They plant Monterrey Pine which looks just like White Pine. They trim off the lower 25 feet of limbs to prevent knots and raise it for saw timber. It is odd to see every tree carefully trimmed to show the trunk. It looks like some weird combination of a pine and a palm. The actual sawing is done on the ship taking the trees to China and Japan. They load logs and offload finished lumber.