The West Harbour shared pathway is a safe walking and cycling link between Dunedin and Port Chalmers. Walk one way and return on the #14 bus or bike The Loop around the harbour.
This 610m beautiful blue Blanket Bay boardwalk gives walkers and cyclists a chance to see the oldest visible section of Otago Harbour seawall, constructed in 1871 for the Dunedin and Port Chalmers railway line.
The historic embankment wall was hand-built by railway contractors using irregular blocks of Port Chalmers breccia, a volcanic rock quarried from the cliffs above Port Chalmers (now Lady Thorn Dell).
When you look towards the present railway line, you can also admire the inner embankment walling which was built in the 1930s. This wall is also hand-built of breccia, built in 7m to 12 m sections with vertical joints from top to bottom between the sections.
1871 Otago Harbour seawall constructed of breccia.
Additional basalt courses probably added in the 1950s to raise the height of the embankment for SH88.
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In 1848 the main transport between Port Chalmers and Dunedin was by sea. The only land link was a very rough track over the hill to North-East Valley. It wasn’t until 1863, fifteen years after the Otago settlement, before that bridle track was finally developed into the Upper Junction Road.
In 1871 West Harbour residents had partly built another road around the beachfront, but that roadline was taken over by the railway which opened 1872.
After being rerouted above the railway, the harbourside road between Port Chalmers and Pelichet Bay was completed in early 1874.
Railway realignment and double-tracking began in the 1920s and was completed in 1948. Then the new Port Chalmers road (State Highway 88) was built along the original railway embankment, with the final road cutting through Roseneath made in the early 1960s.
Finally, on 26 August 2023, the 10km West Harbour shared pathway was opened. Enjoy! And then celebrate the boardwalk with this quick easy multi.
Stand in the alcove on the boardwalk and read about the three earlier transport options – maritime, road, and rail.
The cache is at S45 50.1AB E170 35.2CD
A. "Originally built in XXXA as an embankment".
B. Photo of F74 climbing up towards Roseneath. Otago Settlers Museum 20B6/35/352.
C. When the "Pride of the Yarra" sank, X members of the Campbell family and their Y servants were drowned. X plus Y = C.
D. The number of bicycles shown in the photos = D.
Checksum A + B + C+ D = 10
It’s a short walk or bike ride along the shared path to the final. Only a micro, sorry – please make sure it’s left concealed from passers-by.
1930s railway embankment - 2023 shared path - 1871 railway embankment & 1950s SH88 embankment. Yes, the train is shown twice!
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THE HARBOUR HIGHWAY
Otago Harbour was the main highway for the Scottish Free Church settlers who landed in Port Chalmers in 1848, as it was for the whalers, sealers and Maori before them.
Watermen (as boatmen were called) provided passage around Otago harbour, their boats licensed to carry ten to sixteen passengers. Among the earliest watermen were Thomas Brebner, William Dunbar, and William “Sandy” Low.
The first harbour ferry, the Melbourne-built “Pride of Yarra” began a service between Port Chalmers and Dunedin in 1859 ODT 8 Nov 1926.
Advertisements for the harbour ferry "Pride of the Yarra" (ODT 4 Aug 1862) and the harbour steamer "Favourite" (ODT 10 Apr 1863)
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Lightermen were another crucial shipping link – their small boats (lighters) carried cargo and other goods between ship and shore, and transported goods all around Otago Harbour.
Lighters - essential for cargo-handling (ODT 14 Feb 1862; OW 28 Sept 1861)
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Blanket Bay gained its name because lightermen returning to Port Chalmers from Dunedin against the incoming tide were unable to row around Kilgour Point. They were forced to spend the night in their boats, waiting until the tide changed, huddled in blankets to keep warm.
How much would you be charged for the 9 mile journey from Port Chalmers to Dunedin jetty? Read the Regulations for Cargo and Passenger Vehicles and Boats 1867.
ODT 8 Jan 1862
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THE UPPER JUNCTION ROAD
The first land connection to Dunedin was a very rough track along the route that is now the Upper Junction road. In October 1848 the Reverend Thomas Burns (spiritual leader of the Dunedin settlement) took 3 hours to walk from North East Valley to Port Chalmers. This “pet bridle track” was almost impassable in bad weather and made a difficult stock route.
A beach road along the harbourside to Pelichet Bay was considered in 1851 OW 5 Apr 1851 p 2 but nothing came of it.
Over the next decade some money was spent on improving parts of the Upper Junction track OW 25 Dec 1852 p2 OW 10 Apr 1858 p3 OW 30 Jul 1859 p 2 but the middle section remained just a bridle track.
Port Chalmers road work tender Otago Witness 10 Apr 1858 p3
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The July 1861 goldrush into Otago attracted thousands of diggers and entrepreneurs, many of them from the Victorian goldfields, and massively increased the demand for lightering, but there was still no usable road to Dunedin.
Angry meetings in Port Chalmers demanded action from the Otago Provincial Government: ODT 21 Mar 1862 p 6; ODT 12 Apr 1862 p4.
The Dunedin and Port Chalmers Electric Telegraph line was installed along the line of the road: OW 12 Jul 1862 p3.
Finally, fifteen years after the settlers arrived, a dray road was completed from Port Chalmers via Upper Junction to Dunedin! OW 11 Oct 1862 p4 ODT 21 Mar 1863 p5.
The Port Chalmers and Dunedin Road 1873 by Herbert Deverill.
Today we call it the Upper Junction road, but until early 1874 it was the only road between Dunedin and Port Chalmers.
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THE WEST HARBOUR ROAD (PART I)
Come 1869, West Harbour settlers asked for funding to complete the planned Dunedin to West Harbour road. The settlers had paid for a road along part of the beachfront themselves – but there was still no road along the difficult section at the Pelichet Bay end nor along another two and a half miles at Blanket Bay ODT 15 May 1869 p3.
The Roading Engineer had prepared plans for the road in 1867, and the Provincial Government voted £500 funding ODT 10 Jun 1871 p3.
So, finally, at the end of 1871 workers were constructing the road around Shag Bay to Burkes, only to find that the railway had intruded upon the planned roadline and in two places had obstructed the entire road. The workers had to form a new road on a much more difficult route further up the hill. The debris they threw down from the road works damaged the railway fencing.
The railway promoters took the roading contractors to court for wrongful damage and received £18 damages and costs (which was less than their expenses in taking the case to court). The magistrate noted the case was about wilful damage, not about whether the railway promoters had contravened the law in their railway construction ODT 23 Feb 1872 p2 ODT 1 Mar 1872 p3 ODT 29 Mar 1872 p3.
Railway map from late 1870s, after both the railway and road were completed
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THE DUNEDIN TO PORT CHALMERS RAILWAY
A Port Chalmers to Dunedin railway was proposed in 1861 OW 9 Nov 1861 p 9 ODT 30 Nov 1861 p 2.
On the 25th January 1870 private contractors (Proudfoot, Oliver & Ulph) agreed to build a 4ft. 8.5in gauge line at their expense, with the Otago Provincial Government guaranteeing a return on their investment of 8% pa. The gauge was later reduced to 3ft 6in to comply with Vogel’s NZ Railways Act 1870 which specified a standard gauge to be used throughout New Zealand.
To avoid the steep unstable hillsides, the railway had to be built right on the tidal edge of the harbour and often on causeways across small bays to maintain a reasonably level track.
After going over the Blanket Bay embankment the railway continued through the Sawyers Bay tunnel, which is now closed off and buried underneath the Roseneath cutting and shared pathway flyover.
1872 Sawyers Bay tunnel - now closed off and buried undeneath the Roseneath cutting
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On 25 January 1872, 40 year old labourer Robert Johnston (or Johnson) was killed at Blanket Bay, struck on the head by a stone during tunnel blasting. He’s buried in the Port Chalmers Old Cemetery OW 3 Feb 1872 p 14.
The first goods train ran from Port Chalmers to Dunedin on 18 September 1872, pulled by the double-ended Fairlie engine Josephine , carrying beer from Burke’s Brewery to Dunedin. The line officially opened 31 December 1872 ES 1 Jan 1873 p2 OW 9 Nov 1872 p6 Enginemen of the Dunedin & Port Chalmers Railway.
Railway timetable 11 Jan 1873
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The Dunedin to Port Chalmers railway was purchased by the NZ Government in April 1873, managed by the Otago Provincial Government ODT 27 Mar 1873 p2. By 1875 there were five stations on the line to service the growing West Harbour suburbs Otago Provincial Gazette 1875.
March 1875 weekday railway timetable
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THE WEST HARBOUR ROAD (PART II)
Unfortunately for locals, the railway construction appropriated the best parts of their harbourside road and the planned roadline. The railway promoters started threatening West Harbour residents with trespass for going along the railway, although there was no longer any road for them to use OW 28 Jun 1873 p11.
The 1872 Select Committee on the Beach Road, West Harbour, reported that the railway promoters had taken possession of various parts of the harbourside roadline and greatly inconvenienced settlers.
In July 1873 the Provincial Government resolved that the Beach Road, West Harbour should be formed and made passable adjoining the line of the railway, costs to be charged to the railway ODT 26 Jul 1873 p6 Supp ODT 29 July1873 p3.
And in October 1873 the Provincial Government Inspector of Works informed a meeting of West Harbour ratepayers that £1000 was to be expended in forming the road, and macadamising it with 21/2 inch metal. It would thus be a good carriage road, and settlers would be enabled to bring their produce to town irrespective of the railway. The work would probably be finished in three months OW 4 Oct 1873 p10.
So, by early 1874, there was finally a harbourside road between Dunedin and Port Chalmers.
1922 map showing the railway (going through the 1872 Sawyers Bay tunnel) and the West Harbour road - Neill 1922 topo map
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REALIGNING THE RAILWAY
From the 1920s onward the Dunedin to Port Chalmers railway was straightened and double-tracked on causeways further out on the tidal flats. The Dunedin to Ravensbourne section of the rail causeway was completed by May 1925, and the Ravensbourne to St Leonards section by May 1931.
By 1939 work on the Sawyers Bay Deviation was progressing well, with a new causeway across Blanket Bay and a new Sawyers Bay tunnel being built under Roseneath.
Sawyers Bay deviation photos: ES 1 Apr 1939 p10 ODT 1 Apr 1939 p8
Luckily no-one was hurt by a tunnel collapse ES 29 Aug 1939 p10 ES 29 Aug 1939 p7
Another railway worker died during construction of the new Sawyers Bay tunnel. Steven Petrie, a 33 year old married man, died 6 June 1941 from electrocution when removing a light before blasting – it appears the plug was wrongly fitted so the light was still live ES 18 Jun 1941 p2 ODT 10 Feb 1942 p6.
After delay during WW2, work recommenced in March 1946 ES 1 Mar 1946 p8.
Photos of new embankment at Blanket Bay: ES 8 Aug 1947 p6.2 ES 8 Aug 1947 p6.1
The new railway line to Port Chalmers was completed by June 1948.
Suburban passenger rail services were withdrawn in 1982 and at that stage the second track was removed. Since then public transport between Dunedin and Port Chalmers has been by bus.
STATE HIGHWAY 88
A new, straighter, Port Chalmers road was being planned in 1949. It had to wait until the new Northern motorway was completed. ODT 15 Mar 1949 p 4 ODT 23 Mar 1950 p6.
The new state highway to Port Chalmers was developed mainly along the old rail corridor, but this needed to be widened and many of the small tidal flats on the inner side were filled in.
The final stage was at Roseneath, where the cutting through the peninsula was conpleted in the early 1960s. That cutting partially destroyed the first Sawyers Bay tunnel and buried the entrances.
Maps of Blanket Bay 1939, 1959 and 1969, showing the railway and roading changes.
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SHARED PATHWAY
By the 1990s changes in regulations had put more trucks and heavier trucks on the road, making cycling on SH88 incredibly dangerous. Local residents knew there was enough space alongside the railway line, where the second track had been removed, and started campaigning for a safe shared path.
The shared path from reached Ravensbourne (1.2 km) in 2006, Maia (1.3 km) in 2008 and St Leonards (2.1 km) in September 2012. Then there was a long delay - Kiwirail demanded paths had to be 5 m from the railway (instead of 3 m as previously), making construction much more expensive.
Work on the final 5 km section from St Leonards to Port Chalmers started early 2020, only to be disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. A boardwalk carried the path around the edge of Blanket Bay, and a 2.5 m retaining wall raised the path safely above the Roseneath cutting.
The West Harbour shared path was opened 26 August 2023 and is hugely successful. Enjoy!
Our beautiful blue Blanket bay boardwalk (2023) viewed from the old West Harbour road (1874)
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COMPARE 1947 and 2024 aerial photography of Dunedin using this Dunedin maps arcgis app.
You will be able to see where the 1872 Sawyers Bay railway tunnel went underneath Roseneath, before the road cutting hid it.