Dunedin, South Island

We have had a great time in this town. Coming from Mt. Cook, we needed to clean up a bit, but it had to be fast because there was too much stuff to do in Dunedin! Dunedin is full of beautiful buildings, a lively square known as “The Octagon,” restaurants, bars, and yes, the Speight’s Brewery! We made it to the tour just in time. It was a good thing that we booked ahead because it was sold out when we go there. After an informative hokey tour, the fun started. We were allowed to pour our own out of the tap! We had about 15 minutes to try all six types, and we were successful. Mike was able to have every beer, twice. Less talk, more drinking.
After the brewery (Mike liked the Summit which is a golden ale and I liked Summer Brew which is apricot wheat beer), we raced to the movie theatre to see the long awaited Sherlock Holmes. We made it just in time and were not disappointed with the action packed mystery. Robert Downey Jr. is dreamy! We then had a great night out on the town.
The next day, we went on the “Elm Wildlife Discovery Tour.” It was fantastic and one of my favorite parts of New Zealand so far. Our guide is a bird lover and we got to see tons of different species. We also went to the Albatross Center and had royal albatrosses flying overhead at the only mainland albatross colony in the world! We also learned that the sea lions around here don’t care about people. We right walked up the beach to a huge bull sea lion and he didn’t even move—except to spray sand on his back!
My favorite part of the tour was the penguins. Not only in seeing the animals, but also what the company has done to restore habitat, fuel the economy, and provide environmental education sustainably. They leased a piece of land along a privately owned beach from a farmer and managed the land for both yellow eyed and little blue penguins. Studying their habits, the company replanted shrub to give nest area for the yellow eyed, made wooden borrows for the little blues, and even put down carpet and made paths to assist the penguins to get through the non-native tall grass. They do the same things with those on the tour every day (walking the same places, staying quiet, and giving the penguins space), and they penguins have concluded that humans are not a threat. This situation provides some amazing views. We were even able to see a parent feeding his/her chicks no farther than 2 meters from us! Since they have been able to start managing this land, they have somewhere between 40- 80 penguins making this beach their home! It was so incredibly interesting to learn about the penguins and even better to know they were thriving in restored habitat.
We also saw a colony of stinky fur seals. There was some hanky-panky going on and right in front of the cute little pups! For shame! There was also a female that wanted to go to a calling pup, but the pup was in a different male’s territory. Her pimp wouldn’t let her leave. She finally gave up and let out a big sigh. Almost worse than prison! There was also a pretty fierce scuffle between two black backed gulls. It’s a rough place out on the bluff!