Taieri Gorge & Thermal Area Questions

Is the rail ride in Port Chalmers to the gorge worth while or is time better spent touring Dunedin? In Tauranga (Rotorua) are there tours or taxis at the dock for the thermal areas or is it best to book a ship's tour? Thanks.

Is the rail ride in Port Chalmers to the gorge worth while or is time better spent touring Dunedin? In Tauranga (Rotorua) are there tours or taxis at the dock for the thermal areas or is it best to book a ship's tour? Thanks.

The Taeiri Gorge railway is excellent and you can book privately direct with the railway who also provide a shuttle bus from the dock. The ships tour costs 3x more and the only advantage is that the train leaves from shipside and you get a boxed lunch with some wine.

Unfortunately you cant book privately If there is more than one ship in port.

The train trip is similar to but not as spectacular (imo) as the train trip to the Yukon from Skagway in Alaska - that was awesome..

If not doing the rail trip then try one of the wildlife tours out of Dunedin.

Dunedin city is walkable from the famous Dunedin train station and can be done at the end of the trip before returning to the ship. Maybe visit the Cadbury Chocolate Factory (5 minutes walk) or Spreights Brewery. You can also opt for a 1hr city tour from the railway that returns you directly back to the ship. It departs from the information centre (i-site).

Re ROT book the ships tour too hard to find your own way

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Trieri Gorge Railway is one of the Great Railway Journeys of the World. Book the Ships shore excursion as train departs from and returns to shipside .

Re ROT book the ships tour too hard to find your own way

 

 

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Dont agree. Extremely easy to get to Dunedin station. Email the TGR and book a shuttle that leaves from the pier by the i-site for about $5-10.

Advantages of doing your own is heaps cheaper, you get to spend time in Dunedin on the return and the 1 hr additional tour for a lousy $20 returns you right at the gang plank (just like the train).

As i said the only complication in which case you are forced to use the ships tour is if there is more than 1 ship in town, or your scheduled arrival time is too late.

Check out the TGR website. http://www.taieri.co.nz

Mate!! Read the post were talking Rotorua not blooding Dunedin!

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Mate!! Read the post were talking Rotorua not blooding Dunedin!

 

 

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It would appear that cassamanda did not recognise your abbreviation for Rotorua.

We took the train ride when our cruise ship (Voyager of the Seas) docked in Dunedin. The train we took went all the way to Middlemarch, which felt like the middle of nowhere.

It was a very good trip. I certainly hadn't seen anything like this gorge before.

My kids loved it.

[YOUTUBE]HRb6HfMjmr8[/YOUTUBE]

Thanks for posting the link to your Taieri Gorge Train Trip.

Thanks for the vidios & all the info. Very helpful.

New Zealand is a beautiful place, just a bit far away.

New Zealand is a beautiful place, just a bit far away.

Not if you live here!!:D

New Zealand is a beautiful place, just a bit far away.

We think your comment about being beautiful understates the wonders on South Island. DW and I recently spent 2 weeks driving around South Island (after a cruise from Seattle) and were totally enchanted with the island. We have been to many beautiful places around the world (traveled to over 100 countries) but do not think we have ever seen more diverse natural beauty in such a compact place (South Island is about the same size as Illinois). And we should note that many of the super friendly Kiwis with whom we chatted were well aware of how lucky they were to live on this island.

And finally, we must add that seeing South Island on a cruise is good, but there is just no way that one can really appreciate South Island by just stopping at a few ports.

Hank

We think your comment about being beautiful understates the wonders on South Island. DW and I recently spent 2 weeks driving around South Island (after a cruise from Seattle) and were totally enchanted with the island. We have been to many beautiful places around the world (traveled to over 100 countries) but do not think we have ever seen more diverse natural beauty in such a compact place (South Island is about the same size as Illinois). And we should note that many of the super friendly Kiwis with whom we chatted were well aware of how lucky they were to live on this island.

 

And finally, we must add that seeing South Island on a cruise is good, but there is just no way that one can really appreciate South Island by just stopping at a few ports.

 

Hank

Would you move there?

Would you move there?

We want to keep NZ to ourselves thanks :D

Visitors okay though :)

Would you move there?

Yes...........and we finally did! After 40 plus years living/working in Europe. Wish we'd done it 40 years ago!

Absolutely love it here

Maybe helps that we're Scots born and feel at home only with better weather !:)

Would you move there?

Funny you should ask. NZ is the only country (other then our home USA) where I would consider living. But alas, DW has no intention of ever leaving the USA. On our explorations of South Island we met several expat Americans (mostly younger folks in their 20s) who all told us the same story. They had been traveling or visiting friends in NZ, fell in love with South Island, and have never left. But the big problem on South Island is the lack of good jobs which does cause a fair number of Kiwis to emigrate to Australia (or so we have been told). So then the next question is where would we choose to live if we did emigrate to NZ and the answer is somewhere in the Queenstown area.

Hank

We want to keep NZ to ourselves thanks :D

Visitors okay though :)

And I bet you live on North Island :). There is still plenty of room in the south:D And the local wineries would love to have me in the region cause their sales would quickly improve.

And I bet you live on North Island :). There is still plenty of room in the south:D And the local wineries would love to have me in the region cause their sales would quickly improve.

Thank you for your kind comments, yes, the South Island is a great place.

Did you try the wine from the Gibbston Valley area near Queenstown?