Goat Island – Rakiri

This church opened in 1878. Due to a shortage of funds the planned spire was not built. In 1898 Mother Mary MacKillop, and two Josephite Sisters, arrived into Dunedin on the request of the local parish priest to assist with teaching. Australia's first saint, Saint Mary MacKillop is also known as Saint Mary of the Cross. When they arrived they found the existing school then called St Mary’s School, to be in an old shed-like house and in a sad state of disrepair. A new school, St Joseph’s Primary School, was subsequently opened at the end of January 1898. MacKillop lived in Port Chalmers for two months and was the first Head of St Joseph’s in Port Chalmers.

Covering an area of 15 hectares (37 acres) this is the largest island in Otago Harbour. Local Māori know Quarantine Island as Kamau Taurua. The island served as the quarantine station for Otago from 1863 until 1924. Now the area around the remaining buildings is leased by the Quarantine Island/Kamau Taurua Community (QIKTC), while the remainder is jointly managed by the QIKTC and the Department of Conservation.
The QIKT Community host a monthly ‘Open Day’, usually on a Saturday on the last weekend of the month. They charter a boat which usually leaves Back Beach in Port Chalmers, at 9:30AM on Saturday morning, and returns about 1:30PM to 4PM. It may be possible to come over on the afternoon boat too, if you are staying overnight. Bookings in advance are essential as boat places are limited. A pick up on the Portobello side for Peninsula dwellers is usually possible by prior arrangement.
Visitors are welcome to stay overnight in the lodge on the island, returning Sunday afternoon.

This church was built from Port Chalmers bluestone (breccia stone) between 1871 and 1874 to the designs of prominent Dunedin architect R.A. Lawson. It is one of only a handful of New Zealand churches built in an Early English Gothic style according to the principles of the Academic Gothic Revival. The church building is constructed from and has several fine memorial stained-glass windows.

The former studio of noted artist Ralph Hotere (1931-2013) was on land at the tip of Observation Point, the large bluff overlooking the container terminal. When the port's facilities were expanded in 1993, part of the bluff was removed, including the area containing Hotere's studio (after strenuous objection from many of the town's residents). Part of the bluff close to the removed portion are converted by the Hotere Foundation Trust with the assistance of the Otago harbor Board into an award-winning sculpture garden in 2005 containing featuring fours works by both Hotere and other noted New Zealand modern sculptors.

This building dates from 1889 and originally housed the Port Chalmers Town Hall, as well as the Town Clerk’s office, the Fire Brigade, the Police Station (including the Sergeant’s residence and cells), Court Rooms, Customs Office and Government Shipping Office. There was also a morgue that occupied a backroom downstairs. Today the library and service centre are housed in the area previously occupied by the fire brigade. Upstairs are various function rooms.

This small museum is located in the former Post Office building (built in 1877). The building’s location prior to the 19th-century land reclamation, was the beach in Kōpūtai Bay where the first settlers from the sailing ship ‘John Wickliffe’ landed in 1848 to establish the Province of Otago. The museum has a maritime collection and a settlers' collection, telling the stories of early pioneers and many port characters who have lived here over the years.