Dunedin, Sealions and Penguins

Otago has been suffering a terrible drought,  farmers are worried about their livestock and foresters are warning of the risk of fire.  There is really only one cure....us!  Yes it's raining as we wake in Dunedin.

We saunter downstairs in our luxurious b&b for breakfast.  As we have an activity booked for the afternoon we are looking for something to do in the morning.  We get plenty of advice from our host, and soon a plan is hatched.

First on the itinerary is Baldwin Street, officially the worlds steepest street.  We take a drive up it  to claps and waves from the Japanese tourists who are walking up in the rain (shouldn't we be cheering them?).  Then its time to turn round and head down hill.  Its weird feeling like the boot of the car is going to flip over the top of the front.

It's steep

Now for a bout of shopping,  we need a new carry on bag as the old one had split - basicallly due to the sheer quantity of rubbish we are carrying about with us.  A new one in fashionable purple, is soon bought - but no such luck with the cricket ball with New Zealand on it that a friend wanted.  The people in the shop,  look at you like you are mad and offer an All-blacks shirt instead as "that's something we are good at".

The Otago Museum is our next stop,  I knew I would like the place when I noticed that on the back of the toilet doors they have a complete poster full of "fart facts".  We tool a long look round the Maori exhibition and then on to an exhibition of news photos from The Otago Times, which was really interesting and full of stunning pictures.

Time for lunch - big drum roll.........  Dunedin actually has a vegetarian cafe!!!!!!! So of course that is where we have lunch.  I have a "mushroom burger" which turns out to be just a mushroom in a bun with a load of plants on top.  Not even an option for a bit of bacon on top,  where's the nutritional value in that?? Maria is very happy though, and is spolit for choice.

At 3:30 we get picked up for our wildlife tour of The Otago Peninsular. The peninsular is a mountainous lump of land sticking out from Dunedin into the ocean. Those who have been paying attention will have already guessed, it's an extinct volcano.

After a long drive we arrive at the albatross centre,  where we get to watch these majestic birds with their huge wingspan soaring and playing in the strong winds.

Then the bus takes us along lots of dirt tracks to a private beach which is exclusive to the people who run the tours.  This means that the money from the tours goes towards conservation. The main work seems to be planting foliage as penguins are shy and won't mate if they cant have privacy and there are no bushes to hide in.

The walk is down a steep hill but no sooner are we on the beach then we are joined by two sealions, The Sealions like to surf the waves into the beach - well you would if you are a natural surf board.

The sealions come up close on to the beach.  The ignore us as they don't see us as a threat (sadly, as this is no doubt why they are endangered) and they don't mind getting within a few feet of us.

Further up the beach,  we see the penguins coming ashore and climbing the steep hill behind to their nests, which was just amazing to watch.  Then one of the Sealions moved up our end of the beach, and some of the penguins coming ashore caught sight of them, turned round and shot away at a fantastic speed - darting and jumping through the waves.

Climbing back up the hill,  it was still chucking it down with horizontal rain and driving winds.  But: who cares when you've been watching such fascinating creatures.  After that it was back to the B&B for a chance to dry out and look at the pictures.