Dunedin: Otago Peninsula

We began our week-long road trip of the South Island by driving from Christchurch to Dunedin, stopping at the Moeraki Boulders along the way. Unfortunately the tide was in so some of the rocks were harder to look at and access, but this made for some fun runs to take photos before getting too wet.

Coming into Dunedin, we headed straight out onto the Otago Peninsula to look for albatross. The breeding colonies are closed off unless you pay the exorbitant fee for the tour, so we had to settle for a view of a soaring albatross overhead and lots of seagulls and some fur seals, who were snoozing on a pathway looking adorable.

seaweed looks like hair

he had rolled over by the time we walked back around!

this guy was a little suspicious of me photographing him

Then I took the Highcliff Drive on the drive back for great views on top of the peninsula. The weather was gorgeous, and the lambs were bleating -- it was a nice experience.

We walked around downtown Dunedin for a bit and checked out the big church and grounds.

Swimming with Dolphins in Akaroa

We had visitors in town so had the opportunity to show them around the South Island and Sydney. Not everyone is into the extreme adventure activities that the tourism industry likes to tout, so I had the challenge of finding fun outdoor things that were low-key and planning around the busy tourism season with accommodation and bookings. Overall their trip went well in spite of the off and on New Zealand weather.

First we went to Akaroa to go swimming with dolphins. The harbor has one of the world's smallest one, the Hector's dolphin, which has a silver body and black stripe and rounded fins. We spotted lots of them in different pods and saw several babies which were very cute. It was a beautiful, clear day with sunshine and warmth, so even though the dolphins weren't interested in getting super close to us, we got to see them near us in the water a few times. We also had a harbor tour included and saw blue penguins, seals, an albatross, and beautiful rock formations (that looks like Mars). We went for fish and chips afterward and went home after a full day out.

blue penguins

Hector's dolphins

 

cormorants/shags on the rocks

seals

albatross