Day 113 Port Chalmers

Today I started walking the streets in Port Chalmers where I walked 7 streets

1532. George Street
1533. Beach Street
1534. Peninsula Beach Road
1535. Victory Place
1536. Wickliffe Terrace
1537. Albertson Avenue
1538. Blundell Avenue

Port Chalmers is the main port of Dunedin and has a lot of history which I was able to see through some of the historic buildings that I walked past today.  It is in Port Chalmers in 1844 that  the local Ngai Tahu tribe sold the Otago Block to the New Zealand Company. 

 

A few years later in  1875, Port Otago was started and in 1882 the first frozen meat shipped from New Zealand to the Northern Hemisphere left from here.  Today the port is still very much a major part of the township and is evident by the main street ending at the Port Otago yards with the container cranes dominating the view. 

 

Very close to the town hall is where the first sailing ship, the John Wickliffe landed and the first settlers disembarked in 1848.  This building was built in 1888 and was not just the town hall but also home to the Fire Brigade, the Police Station (including the Sergeant’s residence and cells), Court Rooms, Customs Office and Government Shipping Office. There was also a morgue that occupied a backroom downstairs.  Today the bottom floor houses a public library and the top floor is available for functions.

 

Across the road from the town hall is the old Post Office built in 1877.  The building now houses the maritime museum. Collections at the museum cover commercial fishing, shipping, Antarctic exploration and social history.

During my walk, I crossed the Port Chalmers railway line which is the first railway line built in Otago in 1873.  The railway line goes through a tunnel to finish at the port.  This railway line is well used for taking containers and logs to and from the port to the city.  

The port is a busy place with containers and logs.  Today I didn't see any ships being unloaded but I was able to see the time ball on the hill overlooking the port which has stood on the hill since 1867 with the ball dropping at 1pm each day so ships officers could set their  chronometers used in navigation.  The time ball was used up until 1931. 

 

I walked around, past the port to Back Beach.  Back Beach is at the 'back' of Port Chalmers and isn't much of a beach.  It is more of a place to launch boats and has a number of boat sheds.

The view from Back Beach is beautiful looking across to Goat Island, Quarantine Island and the hills of the peninsula behind.  It is from here the water taxi leaves to make the journey across the harbour to Portobello. 

From Back Beach, the road winds it's way around the bottom of Port Chalmers, close to the water of the harbour.  This is a narrow, gravel road that is a popular walk for locals. 

This road is a good place to be able to see in both directions down the harbour. It also shows how narrow parts of the harbour are and why Port Chalmers is the preferred port for large ships. This pictures shows how close Port Chalmers is to Goat Island and then a small gap to Quarantine Island. The road I am walking runs around the base of Port Chalmers, close to the water.

I was able to look across to the hills of the peninsula and Harbour Cone which is the pointy hill on the right.  The houses below Harbour Cone are part of Portobello and are streets that I have not walked yet.

And then I was able to look down the harbour towards the city.  The habour really opens out the further you travel down to the city where it narrows again. 

As I rounded the corner and walked back towards the township of Port Chalmers, I was able to look across to Sawyers Bay where I had been walking yesterday.  I have walked all the streets that I could see. 

Then I was back into the streets with houses and I was able to look across to streets that I have not walked yet.  This is the area that I will be walking over the next few walks as I near the end of my challenge to walk every street in Dunedin.

One area I walked past was this spot where the steam ship 'Pride of the Yarra' sank in July 1863.  Thirteen people drowned here, including the first rector of the new Dunedin High School (now Otago Boys High School), Reverend Thomas Campbell, his wife and and five children who had just completed a 3 month journey from London.

On my walk around from Back Beach, I followed the Writers Walk which is a trail of 11 concrete plinths each bearing poetry written by a member of the Writers Group. 

I walked past two pieces of art today.  The first is huge and  is on the side of a Port Otago warehouse and is of a boat on the back of a whale which I thought was great.  I am not sure what the second piece of art is but it is interesting none the less.

This map shows the streets in Port Chalmers that I have walked are highlighted in red

Distance walked:  5.5 km         Walking time  59 mins   

 

Total distance: 938.2  km          Total walking  174 hr 57 mins 

Day 102 East Mosgiel

After enjoying a couple of evening walks near the harbour, I headed back out to Mosgiel for a longer walk where I walked 15 streets.

1352. Cemetery Road
1353. Clachan Gange Road
1354. Jollie Lane
1355. McGlashan Street
1356. Gow Street
1357. Gladstone Road South
1358. McFadden Drive
1359. Joe Brown Avenue
1360. Heathfield Drive
1361. Calluna Crescent
1362. Erica Crescent
1363. Irwin Logan Drive
1364. Pinfold Place
1365. Prudence Place
1366. Gladstone Road North

I started my walk today on another of the long straight roads of Mosgiel.  This one ran for approximately 3.5km in a straight line.  Thankfully there were a few side streets that I walked, otherwise, I would have only walked two streets today.

Part of my walk today, included the streets of the industrial area of Mosgiel.  These streets are wide and, as it is the weekend, empty. I would imagine that this is a busy area during the week. 

Most of Mosgiel is flat but today I walked up some of the few streets that get a view.  These houses look towards the Chain Hills where there are new houses being built. 

As I walked further around the hill, I was rewarded with views looking over Mosgiel.  I have walked none of these streets yet and it was good to get a chance to look over the streets that I will be walking next.

 

A little further around the hill, I was able to see Saddle Hill.  This is the first time that I have seen it from this direction, where I can start to see why it has the name Saddle Hill.  

Once I had walked back down the hill, I was able to look back up to the streets where I had been walking.

 

The next part of my walk was through a new subdivision where the streets have been laid out and no houses built yet. It won't be long before this area is full of houses.

As I walked further into the subdivision, I was able to see over the part where most of the houses have already been built. 

As I walked back down to the flat, I was able to look over towards Saddle Hill.  I had enjoyed walking the streets on the hill.

 

And then I was back to walking the long, straight road to finish my walk.

 

I was quite excited to be walking along beside the train line when a train came past on it's way south.  The train was quite long and I could feel the power and size of it as it gather speed. 

 

After seeing the train go past, further along the road I walked past the Mosgiel train station. This station was built in 1875.  While trains still travel down the track, past the station, the station is not used anymore.  It has most recently been used as a function centre but it is looking deserted now.

One of the footpaths that I walked today is a shared cycle/walkway.  The power poles were once on the edge of the footpath, however to make it wide enough for both cyclists and walkers, the footpath was widened.  This leaves the power poles in the middle of the footpath, making it difficult for cyclists (and walkers) who aren't paying attention.

One of the streets I walked down today was called Cemetery Road and not surprisingly, there was a cemetery.  The cemetery was overseen by a lovely church (seen in the distance).  The East Taieri Church was built in 1853 and has some beautiful stained glass windows.

At the start to the subdivision, is this beautiful big Oak tree.

 

Distance walked:  12.9 km         Walking time  2hr 29mins   

 
Total distance: 840.7 km          Total walking  157 hr 30 mins 

Day Ninety Nine Wingatui

Having finished walking the streets in the suburbs on the outskirts of the city yesterday, I started walking the streets of Mosgiel.  I walked 9 streets today.

1326. Paterson Road
1327. Haggart Street
1328. Crossan Street
1329. Magazine Road
1330. Friends Hill Road
1331. Puddle Alley
1332. Henderson Street
1333. White Hart Lane
1334. Soper Road

Mosgiel is a satellite town  of Dunedin with a population of over 14,000 people within the Dunedin City Boundary.  Mosgiel was founded in the early 1850's on the flat land of the Taieri Plains and while most of the town is flat, the eastern boundary runs along the low hills dividing Mosgiel from the rest of the city and this is where I started my walking today.  

 

Mosgiel is a growing town with a lot of new homes being built on the fringes.  Only a few years ago, most of this area was farmland.

The houses that have been built on the slightly elevated land of the hills have a view looking over the Taieri Plans and towards Three Mile Hill which is one of the main roads over the hill into Dunedin's hill suburbs.

Once off the slight hill, I was walking the long, straight streets on the edge of Mosgiel.  Because the streets are long and straight, I did not walk many streets although I did walk a reasonable distance today.

 

The road I walked along today runs beside the railway line.  This railway line travels the length of the South Island and I have crossed the railway line a number of times during my challenge to walk every street in Dunedin.

I walked past the Wingatui Railway Station on my walk today.  This station was opened in 1875 with this particular stating being built in 1914.  The station was closed in 1983 with both the station and signal box being preserved.  The inside of the signal box still has all the levers once used to manually change the track points.

But mostly the streets that I walked today were long and straight with only a few shorter side streets.

And to show that I did manage to walk some shorter streets, this is looking down Henderson Street from the railway embankment where there is a walking track beside the train track.  I walked one way along the footpath beside the road and then back along the embankment.

And at the end of the short streets was open farmland, which I am sure will not remain as farmland for long with all the new houses being built.  This will mean that in a few years, there will probably be new streets for me to walk. 

 

On the railway line embankment is this cleverly planted and maintained hedge spelling out the name of the suburb.  A popular myth for the name was when William Stevenson, an early settler in the area,  shot a Tui in the wing. Liking the sound of “Wing-a-tui”, William Stevenson named his property Wingatui in the mid 1850’s or the name could be the English spelling of the area which has the Maori name Whiringatua  meaning the place of plaiting of straps

These hens became excited as I walked past their home today, coming out onto the road to greet me and see if I had any food for them.

Distance walked:  7.8 km         Walking time  1 hr 26 mins   

 
Total distance: 818.6 km          Total walking  153 hr 33 mins 

Day Ninety One Ravensbourne

Another lovely day in Dunedin so I took the opportunity for an evening walk and returned to walk some more streets in Ravensbourne.  Today I walked 13 streets.

1205. Manuka Street
1206. Matai Street
1207. Junction Road
1208. Adderley Terrace
1209. Short Street
1210. Hinau Street
1211. Monowai Road
1212. Wanaka Street
1213. Wakatipu Street
1214. Totara Street
1215. Seddon Street
1216. Athol Place
1217. Ohau Street

 

Ravensbourne is on the side of the harbour that loses the sun in the evening, however the views more than made up for walking in the shadows. 

The streets of Ravensbourne are narrow and wind their way around the side of the hill.  One of the benefits of being on the hill is that I was rewarded with great views from every street I walked tonight.

As I walked the streets on this side of the harbour, I was able to look over at the sunny side and know that I have walked all the streets that I could see. I had walked the streets opposite in January and at the time, my challenge to walk every street in Dunedin seemed like an impossible task. Now I have walked around 3/4 of Dunedin's streets.

It was a lovely evening to be out walking and as I made my way down the hill, the city and harbour views continued to open out.  

Eventually I made it back to the bottom of the hill and walked along beside the road and railway line as the sun was setting. 

As I walked along beside the harbour and railway line, I was able to look over at Macandrew Bay which was still in the sunshine.  I have walked along the road as far as Macandrew Bay but I haven't walked the streets in Macandrew Bay yet. 

And finally I finished my walk by walking up a couple of the steep, narrow streets.  This photo doesn't show it, but this street is steep and a good challenge for the legs and lungs.

 

Today I walked past the Ravensbourne fire station.  This is a small fire station which is run by volunteers who give up their time to train and fight fires.  Even though it is still in the city, the volunteers would be first at a fire or car accident.  The fire bell out the front is a memorial to firefighters who have died while still being on active service.

I didn't see any interesting letterboxes on my walk today but there were a number of houses in Ravensbourne that had interesting things on their fences.  The residents of this house had lots of small windmills as well as ornaments on their fence.

And I am not sure why the residents of this house would have a fly stuck in a spider web as their fence. 

The residents of this house look like they have made their own unique fence ornaments.

The railway line runs through Ravensbourne and the Ravensbourne bus stop is cleverly painted as a tribute to the railway line.  One one side is the walking bridge over the railway line.  The way it is painted, it is made to look like you could walk over it and the other side has a lovely steam train.

The other street art that I saw on my walk today was this fox painted on a garage door. 

Distance walked:  4.5 km         Walking time  56 mins  

Total distance: 745.3 km          Total walking  139 hr 44 mins