New Zealand 2006:
Day 9 - Dunedin

	Tuesday, March 21, 2006: We arrived early in Dunedin and opened our cabin shade to see yet another container port dominated by Maersk. This game practically plays itself on cruises!
	We had a Taieri Gorge Railway tour booked first thing this morning, so off we went. We had a nice table for two in the very last car, and toasted our departure with a glass of champagne.
	Here's the interior of our train car. All cars were either original cars which had been restored, or cars that had been built in the same style.
	The train took us through Dunedin and along the coastline briefly, where the overcast weather treated us to a rainbow.
	The railway took us past homes with beautiful gardens ...
	... paddocks of sheep, ...
	... and even a llama farm.
	Once we got out of the city and surrounding farmland, we started to climb in elevation. Tom's GPS tracked our route, while we followed along with our placemats that doubled as maps.
	Looking behind us, we could see the Wingatui Viaduct that we had just crossed.
	The railway follows the Taieri River through the countryside. We enjoyed the scenery as we were served tea.
	Here's the train ahead of us, as we followed along in the last car.
	After an hour or so, we stopped at Hindon to stretch our legs.
	There's not much to see here but this statue of a sheepdog named Sue, but it was a nice break.
	Here's Debbie in front of one of the cars ...
	... and here's Tom in front of the bright blue engine.
	The views down to the river bed were beautiful. In this photo, a bridge is visible ahead on the left.
	Sharp eyed passengers spotted several goats on the rocks beside the river. There's a brown one on the grass, and a white one and a brown one on the cliffs at the right.
	This shot looks back down the valley at one of the bridges we had crossed previously.
	As we reached the high country, we passed many turnip patches which had been planted as supplemental feed for the many sheep who graze in this area.
	When we arrived in Pukerangi, the end of the line, Tom watched as the trainworkers moved the engine from the back of the train to the front.
	Debbie perused the tables of wares set up by local craftspeople. We were quite taken with this display of miniature stone cabins, and took one home with us.
	On our return trip, we were served a light lunch of quiche, sandwiches, fruit, and salad.
	We passed familiar sights by now: the llamas, ...
	... sheep and a tiny pony, ...
	... and a small airport with a Swiss airplane.
	The town of Dunedin is very charming, and spread across many hills.
	Our train ride started at the ship dock, but ended conveniently in the center of Dunedin at the train station.
	The interior of the train station is quite beautiful, decorated with ornate tiles.
	It's even more lovely on the outside.
	A couple of blocks way, we found the Cadbury chocolate factory.
	Inside, we were greeted by a wall of Cadbury Crunchie candy bars. Shiny! Crunchies are chocolate bars filled with Hokey Pokey, which is a uniquely Kiwi way of describing toffee.
	We had to pay an entrance fee to enter the museum, but that was the only way to get into the gift shop which was our ultimate goal. Due to time constraints, we passed on the factory tour. A highlight of the museum was this basket of roasted cocoa beans, which we sampled. They are not delicious, but it's easy to see how they can eventually end up as chocolate.
	Here is a scene of some colorful, happy elves, presumably making delicious Cadbury treats.
	We did a great deal more shopping along this street, picking up some clothes, Lamingtons, and a few more personalized "Claire" items. We also indulged our craving for genuine McDonald's French fries and Diet Coke.
	In the center of everything was the Octagon, a city square with eight sides instead of the usual four. It had a park in the center and was surrounded by outdoor cafes.
	We availed ourselves of the services of one of these cafes, sipping a beverage as we watched people go by.
	Finally, we crossed the Octagon to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship.
	We got to play Maersk again as we watched this container ship, MSC Sariska, being unloaded.
	At 10:00 PM, we went up on deck to look for the Southern Cross. Unfortunately, the clouds had different plans for us, so we had to settle for a cloudy glimpse of the waning moon. Day 10 >