Dunedin
The day dawned cloudy but calm and pleasant as the great majority of guests boarded the Dunedin-Middlemarch Heritage Train through the Taieri Gorge as the activity for the day. The trip is on the last remnant of rail still penetrating into central Otago as far as Cromwell, more than 120 miles away. It was once the lifeblood of the economy of the region as it transported sheep and sheep products, fruit (cherries, apricots, apples), and in later years wine, to the ports of Otago at Dunedin and Port Chalmers. After the remainder of the line was closed down in 1990 after the Clyde Dam was built, the lines and the sleepers were pulled up as a group of local entrepreneurs and the Department of Conservation set about establishing New Zealand’s most popular cycle trail over the same land.
The trip to Middlemarch was uneventful; guests enjoying the dramatic scenery in the gorge above the Taieri River, which was discoloured dark brown because of recent rains in the back country. Some birds were spotted, notably a few harrier hawks, some black-backed gulls and the occasional magpie. Some folk took the opportunity of participating in a common Kiwi experience at Middlemarch by buying bread, sausage and other accoutrements at a “sausage sizzle” run as a fund raiser by the local Lions Club. Most wandered for an hour around this village before the return trip home to the spectacular Dunedin railway station.
“A grand excursion” was the common refrain.
