It’s also mostly closed, most of the time. The township’s sleepy existence is punctuated only by the arrival of cruise-ship hordes that prop up local retailers sufficiently that they only have to open a few times a week. Though no one day or time will guarantee you full access to all of Port Chalmers’ delightful emporia, there are definitely better days than others. My completely unscientific survey of the shops’ opening hours suggests that heading out on a Saturday afternoon is your best bet for maximum exploratory excitement. Here are some of the highlights:
Tall Poppy: this café (and its pizzeria twin) is open for brunch from Wednesday to Sunday, for dinner on Friday and Saturday, and for pizza from Thursday to Sunday. It has a sunny courtyard out the back. The cakes look yum.
2 Gypsies: despite the dubious use of a numeral in its name when a word would have done quite nicely, 2 Gypsies offers many exotic and interesting knick-knacks: recycled teak furniture, scarves, kimonos, recipe books, candles, many kinds of Buddha, bowls, cushions and tableware. And it has a roaring fire – toasty.
Magpies: open only in the afternoons from Thursday to Sunday, this second-hand store has a collection of oddities, with a few cool Kiwiana design offerings thrown in.
The Costume Box: if you want a strange hat, an unfashionable tie or a 1980s prom gown, look no further than the Costume Box. As well as hiring out costumes, most of the eclectic collection is for sale. Open Sunday through Tuesday from 10am-2pm.
Port Royale Café: great coffee, delicious baking (including gluten free options), babe-ing baristas and cool artwork. Enough said.
Coffee dot: cute-looking baking (reportedly the best brownie around, although I can neither confirm nor deny) and a cosy setting.
If you stray beyond the main strip, Port Chalmers can offer you:
Iona Church: a splendid old dame perched up on the hill who watches over Port Chalmers. She’s been onsite since 1883 and is currently undergoing a facelift (so you can’t go inside), but it’s still worth the hike.
And if you keep walking, you’ll make it to the Lady Thorn memorial lookout and rhododendron dell. We saw a chicken chilling on a park bench – it was pretty cool.
Port Otago. If you like artistically stacked logs, you’ll be in tessellation heaven.
Peninsula Beach Road, which skirts the harbour-side edge of the Port Chalmers peninsula, is home to some fearsome geese but is worth the walk. Check out Goat and Quarantine Islands, which straddle the harbour between you and Portobello on the other side.
Carey’s Bay Hotel, about 1km further along the road towards Aramoana, does fantastic gastro-pub type lunches and looks out onto a picturesque bay studded with boats.
Enjoy.
Get there: by car, or by biking along the fandangled harbour-side track (it starts near the rowing club behind the stadium).
Do: climb the hill to the lookout.
Don’t: go on Monday or Tuesday – the whole town shuts up shop.
Eat: at Port Royale for bangin’ café food, or Tall Poppies for pizza.