What a great day we've had in Dunedin, New Zealand South Island. Firstly, the weather was kind, sunny periods, dry and no mist. A nice temperature, perhaps 19C.

We were booked to travel on the historic Taieri Gorge railway and the train came right to the dockside to meet the ship. We managed to get on in the first compartment which was great because it meant we had an outside viewing area between us and the engine allowing for taking photos in the air.

The Taieri Gorge Railway is now privately owned but was part of the Otago Central Railway established in 1877 to serve the middle island in the expansionist times of the gold rush. The engineering challenges were considerable and it was not completed to its full extent until 1920. The railway played a central part in developing trade in this part of New Zealand but by 1990 it faced huge competition from road transport and in that year large sections of it were due to close. Locals raised 1.2 million dollars to buy a 64 km stretch of it to serve as a tourist train. This section which we road today follows the Taieri River gorge crossing a number of bridges, viaducts, through tunnels and across high ledges giving amazing views of countryside un-viewable by road.

Each compartment was served by volunteer lady hostesses from the local community who served tea, coffee, soft drinks and beer on the trip up to Pukerangi from Dunedin and a delicious lunch with wine (copious copious amounts) on the way back. They were a lot of fun. We stopped several times to get down from the train for pictures and the commentary given along the way was most interesting and informative. A lot of the labour for the railway was undertaken by Chinese labourers and you can see the remnants of some of their huts along the way. The tunnels and cuts were hand blasted and progress was slow, maybe a foot a day in some places.

On the way back we stopped in Dunedin Railway Station, the most photographed building in Dunedin and one of the most photographed in the whole of New Zealand. A wonder of Victorian splendour (like so much of Dunedin) it was well worth the view and the inside was a fantastic display of tiling, mosaics and stained glass. Dunedin itself looked worth a longer visit, settled by Scots immigrants in the 1800s and bearing a strong Scottish stamp in the street names and architecture. Some amazing great stone piles much like those in Edinburgh.

As we sailed, a Scottish pipe and drum band played us away on the quay which was a nice touch.

The captain has announced that norovirus has come on board since Sydney and emergency hygiene restrictions are now in place i.e. no self service in the buffet; no salt, pepper etc on the tables; mandatory hand gel all around the ship and more….. Hope we don't get it. Have been manically washing all evening.