We were only in Dunedin overnight but it was plenty of time to have a look around the city sights. The morning we set off for Central Otago we went back to the Railway station to look at the architecture this time. It's a beautiful building both inside & out.
This time we literally did have the place to ourselves.
The interior of the station is as interesting as the exterior with tiles everywhere & some beautiful stained glass windows.
Many of the buildings in the CBD are of a similar style to the railway station. The dark local stone mixed with the whitestone from Oamaru has created some striking looking buildings.
We then set off for Cromwell in the fruit growing area of central Otago. We had to track south before heading inland. It was the third time we'd covered that 50km stretch of road since the initial journey to The Catlins. We tracked through the hills for an hour as the brilliant coastal green we'd become accustomed to gradually faded. We found ourselves in the dry highlands that have ideal conditions for fruit growing. By the time we arrived in Cromwell, the skies were grey and the wind was howling.
Cromwell was always only going to be an overnight stop because our first preference, Wanaka is a madhouse over the Christmas/New Year period and finding accommodation is near impossible. As it turned out, the Cromwell holiday house we had for the night was luxurious and comfortable for us to wait out the poor weather for the afternoon and evening.
We did visit the Old Cromwell Town historic precinct. The buildings were moved when Cromwell was flooded by the dam.
After some troubles with getting hot water in The Catlins and some issues with the hotel in Dunedin, it was nice to have a nice place with nice comfortable beds, a nice warm shower (with water pressure) and even a bath. We were able to recharge for what would be a tough following day.
