… outside Dunedin, near Port Chalmers. New Zealand consists of the North Island and the South Island. Dunedin (duh-NEE-un) is the South Island’s second largest city; it was first called New Edinburgh, and then renamed Dunedin, which is the Celtic name for Edinburgh. Like Australia, New Zealand also had a gold rush, starting in 1861, which was located in the area around Dunedin and ensured its growth and importance.
The weather was beautiful for a bus excursion to the Otago Peninsula to see wildlife. The bus took us first through Dunedin with a quick photo stop at the magnificent old train station. Only in Dunedin will you find a set of giant molars to commemorate the first school of dentistry in New Zealand!
Although it stalled several times, our bus made it up the steep, windy roads along the coast leading to “Natures Wonders,” a family-run sheep farm and wildlife attraction, including a Royal Albatross colony at Taiaroa Head, a very windy spot. An albatross has a wing span of more than 12 feet, but is so heavy it needs at least 15-knot winds to become airborne. They mate for life, with a single egg each year. Most amazing, a tagged albatross flew an astonishing 80,000 miles in a year. Here is an albatross in flight. They look similar to seagulls but are 10 times larger!
Once there, six of us squeezed into an eight-wheel-drive off-road vehicle called an Argo, first putting on slickers provided by our driver. The trip over badly rutted, hilly terrain was extremely dusty and precarious, especially for the two passengers in the very back of the Argo, who were in danger of bouncing out as it climbed the steepest parts. Our co-passengers in the back were an elderly couple from Japan, who hung on for dear life!
We stopped at a seaweedy rock outcropping to watch a colony of fur seals. It’s mating season, so the males had joined the females; usually this area is for the ladies only, and is where babies are born and spend their first months with their mothers. A male was perched on the rocks above the observation trail; after checking us out, he decided to join some seals in a pool below us. He calmly waddled right past us.
Our second stop was above a penguin nesting ground. Natures Wonders has built an elaborate and very steep enclosed wooden walkway to descend to an area where the penguins can be observed. Much to the guide’s surprise, two yellow-eyed penguins were sitting inside the tourist enclosure! They had apparently sought shelter during a recent storm. We were not allowed to photograph them because they are so easily spooked they have been known to have a heart attack when approached by humans. On our way back up the path, we saw a little blue penguin sitting on an egg. Quite a treat, as penguins had not been mentioned in the excursion description. Sorry there are no penguin photos.
Leaving Natures Wonders we headed back toward Dunedin. The air-conditioning didn’t work on the bus, so the driver gave us a cooling break to stand in the brisk air at a scenic spot. We were in the back seat, where it was hottest. After a half hour in the bus, the windows steamed up and had to be wiped to see out….
We got a short tour of Dunedin, then the bus dropped us at the center of town, on the Octagon. While shopping, we ran into our friends Terri and Lyn, and stopped for a glass of Speight’s (spaytes), the local beer, and a snack. We also stopped at Cadbury World to ogle an entire shop full of mostly unfamiliar chocolates. Cherry Ripe or Fry’s Turkish Delight, anyone?
It was good to get back to the ship to rest and relax!
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