HMNZS Te Kaha has been berthed in Otago Harbour since Thursday, and members of the public had the chance on Saturday to explore the vessel first-hand as part of a guided tour.
This included a firefighting display on the quarter deck, small-arms weapons display in the hangar and a look at the .50-calibre machineguns on the gun deck platform.
Dunedin resident Oliver Blair spotted the 118m-long 3660 tonne Anzac-class frigate from Macandrew Bay and brought his two children to take a look.
It was interesting to hear about how it was developed in the late 1990s, so was still equipped to handle paper charts and maps, and the scale of it was quite impressive.
The bridge was "definitely the coolest part", but his son was reluctant to touch any of the controls, Mr Blair said.
"He didn’t want to crash it ... but it was all turned off.
"The commander in the bridge was encouraging him to sit down and grab the rudder controls and have a play around. That was quite cool."
There were so many people some even had to be turned away.
"I was walking up and down chatting to the line of people before they got on to the ship and all of them were just so happy for the opportunity to be able to have a look at a warship and ask questions about our service, what we do and how we find things."
Most had a connection with a family member who had served in the New Zealand Defence Force or the like, so there was plenty to talk about.
"The kids all liked the guns, I think."
It was the first time in 20 years HMNZS Te Kaha had returned to Dunedin.
The warship is berthed in the harbour until tomorrow, bound for Auckland for a maintenance period, Lt-cmdr West said.
"Hopefully it’s not another 20 years before we come back."
