It was quite an early start this morning, but the maxi taxi I had pre-booked arrived on time and the trip via the new Airport Link road was over quickly. The airport check-in area was very busy already, but my ticket class included priority check-in, so I avoided the long queue and was soon relaxing in the departure lounge.

The approach to Dunedin was cloudy and bumpy after a smooth flight from Brisbane. On the ground it was raining, and the temperature was only 5C.

Dunedin Airport is small, and there was a long queue at immigration control.  Then my bike and camping gear had to be inspected, so it took quite a while entering.

As I loaded my bike into a shuttle in the freezing downpour, clumps of slushy ice were sliding off the roof of the bus. Hmmmm – not a promising start for a cycle tour.

On the short ride into the city, I couldn’t help but notice that it was surrounded by hills. The shuttle driver informed me that the city has the world’s steepest residential street – Baldwin Street, and that there was no way out of the city that avoids the hills, except by train. This is the exit of choice for most cycle tourists – to take the Taieri Gorge tourist train to the start of the Otago Rail Trail.

The shuttle bus delivered me to my accommodation with time to check in and then take a short walk to the shopping precinct, where I was able to purchase a prepay card for my phone and get back on the air – great, I can get email again.

In short order I was able to locate the supermarket and the railway station, and check the route out of the city. It rises quite steeply just a few hundred metres from where I’m staying, so there is no opportunity to warm up before the climbing commences. The rail option is looking more and more attractive.

New Zealand is on daylight saving time, so it was still quite light at 7pm. I found a likely looking place to eat, had a huge lump of steak and my first NZ beer for the trip, then wandered back to my room and turned in early.