Port Chalmers

Port Chalmers is the deepwater port for Dunedin, sitting on a hillside above the container terminal, and it carries two separate stories. The historical one is trade: in February 1882 the Dunedin sailed from here for London carrying frozen mutton and lamb in a coal-powered refrigeration plant, and the cargo arrived in good condition after ninety-eight days - the voyage that created New Zealand's meat export industry and shaped the country's economy for a century. A monument records it. The other story is more recent: cheap housing and old buildings drew artists, musicians and writers from the 1970s, and the town developed a reputation in New Zealand music out of proportion to its size. The main street has galleries, second-hand shops, a good bookshop and cafes among the Victorian stone. Cruise ships berth here for Dunedin, which fills the town on those days.

History

Captain James Herd visited Otago Harbour in 1826, and by the 1830s Kōpūtai Bay was a whaling station used by American, British and French ships. In 1844 Frederick Tuckett of the New Zealand Company came in the schooner Deborah to choose a site for the New Edinburgh settlement, and the sale of the Otago Block was concluded here on 31 July 1844 (Wikipedia, Port Chalmers).

Highlights

• The 1882 monument - marking the first refrigerated meat voyage.
• The working port - container cranes directly below the town.
• The arts scene - galleries, bookshops and the music association.
• The Victorian stone - the main street above the harbour.

When to go

Any season. Avoid cruise ship days if you want it quiet - the schedule is published. Weekends are liveliest for the shops.

Things to know

It is a working industrial port and looks like one from many angles. Cruise days transform it. Shops keep short and irregular hours, particularly midweek.

Nearby

Dunedin is up the harbour; Aramoana and the mole are further out on the same side.

Key facts