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Published: April 20th 2007
Dunedin/Otago
Fur seals. Awww, cute etc... After the much rated but never over-hyped Queenstown, we headed to the east coast and to the very Scottish town of Dunedin (it means 'Edinburgh of the south' apparently...)
Our 2 days was filled mostly with some wildlife spotting on the Otago Peninsula, which was better than it sounds! Although it was a tad cold we saw Royal Albotros' (Albotri?!), Seals, Sea-Lions and Yellow Eyed Penguins to name but a few. Oh, and lots of sheep obviously but then this is New Zealand! We walked within a few metres past the Sea Lions, which are huge and pretty scary - they're known to chase people and can move along the beach at 25km/h! Luckily they were happy just grunting at us on the day. The penguins were pretty cool too - they're quite rare and it's only through the conservation money generated through the wildlife tours that their population is starting to increase (the government isn't involved at all).
The next day we had a quick tour around the city seeing the old (in NZ terms) university and other buildings around the city and took a look around the art gallery. Very civilised. Then in the afternoon we
Dunedin/Otago
Yellow-eyed Penguin. Awww, cute etc etc... headed to Cadbury World to go on a chocolate factory tour! Although the smell was fantastic and we got a few free tasters, we were slightly disappointed and thought maybe we should have spent the $14 each just buying chocolate instead!
Our hostel was on top of a poolhouse (non-wet variety) so for the rest of the afternoon we shot a few spots and stripes and, very impressive in terms of preparation, did a bit of planning for the final part of our trip in the South Pacific. Which is pretty scary when we think how recently in seemed that was months away!
Next stop was Lake Tekapo. The quality of hostels in NZ has been seriosly impressive so far and the Lakefront Lodge in Tekapo was no exception. We'd recommend it this place to absolutely anyone as it overlooks beautiful Lake Tekapo, to the mountains beyond, and has a really lovely secluded 'log cabin' feel. Although no-one else on our bus seemed particularly impressed as we were pretty much the only people to stay more than 1 night. The scenery was so stunning it was going to take a lot more than a tiny town without a
Dunedin/Otago
Sea Lions. Cute in photo but actually a tad scary! cash machine to put us off!
Once again the weather was beautiful so we spent most of our time exploring the Lake and the surrounding area on foot. We first walked up Mount John which has an observatory at the top as the area is well known for it's super, starry nights. Being broad daylight though, we didn't see too many stars. Walking back down over the hills was a perfect way to view the turquoise lake.
The next day we basically walked up then hills in the opposite direction for some more awesome views of the same stuff (from a different angle) - still beautiful though! That evening we explored the limited nightlife with other Magic bus passengers and driver Magic Stu. It was a good night watching the Super 14's rugby in the pub and sharing a few stories.
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Maddy
non-member comment
I want a pet penguin..........