Shops open in Port Chalmers on yesterday's public holiday enjoyed unexpected brisk trade as hundreds of cruise-ship passengers filled the town during a shortened visit.
The Sun Princess, which was to have arrived at 7am from Fiordland, did not arrive until about 3.45 pm after being delayed by bad weather. It left again at 8pm for Lyttelton, shortening the vessel's original planned stay by almost seven hours.
This meant the tourists did not have time for some of the usual tours of the Dunedin area.
The New World supermarket in George St, Port Chalmers, was particularly busy, with staff too busy to talk to the Otago Daily Times.
There were also queues for automatic-teller machines, dozens of people in the dairy, and throngs in several other shops which were open for the day.
Many passengers seemed to find it best to keep moving in the fresh breeze whipping through the town.
Joanne Paterson, from Cairns in Australia, said Port Chalmers was a "quaint little town", but "very windy".
She was disappointed not to have had the time to visit the Cadbury factory and accepted that what was available to the tourists in Port Chalmers had been limited by the fact it was a public holiday.
