After working at Cadbury for a few weeks 50 years ago, an Australian woman keeps coming back to Dunedin, and this year brought her extended family along for the ride.
Cruise ship Royal Princess arrived in Port Chalmers just before 1pm yesterday, marking the start of the cruise ship season.
Mrs Beggs said she had first set foot in Dunedin in 1973, where she worked at the Cadbury factory for a couple of weeks on a working holiday.
She had since visited four further times with her husband Bryan, the last time in 2016.
Now, 50 years after her first visit, she found herself acting as the honorary tour guide for the rest of the family.
The family had not known the ship they selected would be the first of the cruise season, but this had made the trip even more special.
Her granddaughter Nina Bower will not only remember Royal Princess as the first cruise ship she ever set sail on, but Dunedin as a stop on her first overseas vacation.
"It’s awesome for the first ever cruise ship I’ve been on."
Mr Beggs said they had chosen to take their family on a cruise to New Zealand as it meant few adjustments from back home.
A train ride from the Dunedin Railway Station was a highly anticipated item on the family’s agenda, he said.
"The children will absolutely love it."
Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said this had been a much better start to the cruise ship season than in previous years.
With a target of 20 minutes, the first passenger disembarked from the vessel 23 minutes after pulling into port.
Royal Princess, with a capacity of 3500, had never been deployed to Dunedin before now, he said.
Otago Regional Council transport manager Lorraine Cheyne said public transport was running the same as usual yesterday, as Royal Princess had arrived outside of peak travel times.
The vessel departed Dunedin, bound for Lyttelton, at 9pm yesterday.
tim.scott@odt.co.nz , PIJF cadet reporter
