'Edinburgh' of the Southern hemisphere

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Day 148: Monday 24th November - In a rush to get to the Otago Penninsula

I have a few hours to kill to catch up on things in the morning ahead of my flight to Dunedin at 11.45am. Its a 45 minute transfer to the airport, where upon I encounter probably the slickest check-in routine I've ever seen. No wonder check-in is only half an hour before domestic flights with Air New Zealand. I'm flying via Christchurch to Dunedin, and it takes an hour and a half to get to Christchurch and then a further 40 minutes from Christchurch to Dunedin. The airport in Dunedin is a good drive out of the city itself so by the time I get off the shuttle at my hostel it is after 3pm.

Dunedin is the 5th city of New Zealand with a population of just over 100,000 although this is boosted by over 20,000 students. It doesn't feel much like a university town at the moment though as all the students have gone home for Christmas. Dunedin is the celtic name for Edinburgh, and the city having been founded by Scottish settlers has a distinct Scottish feel from the street names (Princes Street, George Street as Edinburgh) , to the Victorian architecture, to the statue of Robbie Burns in the centre of the city. I am told that when the settlers arrived they took the map of Edinburgh and laid it out on the Otago Penninsula's topography, thus creating Dunedin. Don't know if this is true, but I can well believe it.

Despite needing a rest and refreshment after travelling the length of New Zealand - Dunedin being in the south-east of the South Island - as soon as I arrive at my hostel I'm straight out of the door again. I only have two days here ahead of going west to walk the Milford track and there's a few things I want to do whilst I'm here so when I enquire about the possibility of going to the Otago penninsula to see some wildlife, Gilbert who owns the hostel tells me the only feasible way to do it without your own transport is to go on a tour, which departs in 5 minutes! I usually travel fast, but this is crazy, I haven't even caught my breath yet. The tour is a 6 hour affair, driving out on to the penninsula to see the only Albatross breeding colony in the world on land at Taiaroa Head, then on further around the penninsula to view fur seals, sea lions and yellow-eyed penguins. In addition to the stars of the tour, we also see various wetland birds, including the Pied Oystercatcher, the Pukeko, the Pied Stilt and the Royal Spoonbill. Despite my fatigue its a good tour, you can't help being carried along by the guide's obvious passion and of course the wildlife is pretty special. Seeing the Albatross with a 3 metre wingspan glide on the wind currents to get up to the height of the cliffs is spectacular and getting so close to the penguins is great as well. Seeing them waddle across the beach taking care to avoid the sealions and seals to get to their nests on the hillside is entertaining.

I arrive back at Hogwartz (my hostel) at 10pm ready for bed and wondering what magic is going to happen through the night staying in the hostel named after the school from Harry Potter! There is no Harry Potter theme to the place which is a bit of a shame but the hostel is one of the best I've stayed in on my travels. It feels very homely is in a great location opposite the Catholic Cathedral, it being the bishop's residence in years gone by.

Day 149: Tuesday 25th November - Having a few beers to escape the rain

Spend the morning wandering around the compact city centre. On the way down I book a tour of Speight's brewery for midday. There's not a great deal to see around the city and when I get caught out in a sudden downpour for the second time in three days without my full waterproofs I head straight for the brewery ahead of time. I contemplete re-arranging my tour for later in the day and heading back up the street to my hostel to dry off but I decide that my wet condition is nothing a few beers won't solve! I've never done a brewery tour before so I'm quite looking forward to it. The tour lasts about an hour, where we are shown the brewing process and given a brief history of the Speight's brewery in Dunedin which dates back to the late 19th century. Speight's is the biggest brewer in New Zealand, although their brewery in Dunedin is quite small, with a staff of around ten. After the tour comes the best part, sampling six beers. They're all good with the exception of the dark beer and I look forward to trying them again throughout New Zealand!

Following the tour of the brewery I get changed out of my wet clothes back at the hostel before walking down into the city centre to the railway station. The station building itself is a grand affair, a Victorain building, which is apparently the most photographed building in New Zealand. At the station I board a 1920's carriage which will take me along the Taieri Gorge railway. The railway played a large part in the development of central Otago, but now is used only as a tourist attraction. The train winds through deep gorges, narrow tunnels, rugged canyons and more than a dozen viaduct crossings on its way to Pukerangi 50km away. The return journey takes four hours and is rather disappointing. I think this train journey is more for the senior citizen's than my age by looking around the carriages - I think I'm the youngest on the train. I can't decide whether the train journey has been disappointing because I've become overloaded with all the great things I've seen so far on my travels or whether its just not that great - I'm erring towards the latter. Back at the hostel in the evening I chill out by watching a few movies, although due to the first one having already started before I get there and falling asleep for the second, I don't manage to see either in full. Falling asleep watching a film justifies my decision not to go out in Dunedin tonight. I've heard that the nightlife is good, but with no students around I don't feel like its that busy at the moment, and therefore I'm not missing much.

Day 150: Wednesday 26th November - Heading west to Te Anau

I've done all I want to do in and around Dunedin so I decide to chill out catch up on my blog and generally not do any sight-seeing as after yesterday's experience I am concerned I may be over-doing it. Dunedin has been pleasant enough - but to be fair you don't come to New Zealand for the cities and after spending the majority of my time so far in New Zealand in the cities I'm looking forward to seeing more scenery. At 2pm I catch a bus from Dunedin to Te Anau, four hours west of Dunedin. I arrive in Te Anau in the early evening sunshine and the walk along lake Te Anau to my hostel is very pleasant. I'm sharing a dorm with an English guy, Matt, a Lithuanian girl and a Dutch girl and after not really hanging out with anyone for a few days it is good to spend the evening in their company. They are walking the Kepler track together tomorrow, and I'm going to be walking the Milford track so we are going in opposite directions, which is a bit of a shame because even after spending a few hours together they're good value. I do take a walk down the supermarket to get my provisions for the four day walk......but I do wonder on the way back to the hostel how I'm going to fit this all in my rucksack!

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