Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Saturday in Dunedin

This past weekend we visited the city of Dunedin which is on the coast about an hour and a half south of Oamaru. We left first thing Saturday morning in order to catch the vibrant Saturday-only Dunedin Farmers’ Market. It was packed with people buying local fruits, vegetables, and meats as well as enjoying the various offerings including beer and coffee, baked goods and hot lunch items. We bought an assortment of things for a picnic lunch and put it in out chilly bin a.k.a. cooler (in our case, a recycled styrofoam box from Central Medical).


From there we did a quick survey of downtown, located our boutique hotel (a redone monastery), and, since it was a gloriously sunny and warm day, headed out to the Otago Peninsula northeast of town. The peninsula is about 10 miles long and consists of narrow roads that wind either up and down between the high cliff pastures and farms (the high road) or in and out precariously along the long narrow harbor (the low road). Recommended time to drive the 19 miles roundtrip: nearly an hour! There are two main attractions to be seen: the Larnach Castle and Taiaroa Head wildlife.


The impressive hilltop Larnach Castle was built in the mid-1870s by William Larnach, a wealthy businessman and politician. Unfortunately, he was beset by financial and family woes (three wives, conniving children) and ended up committing suicide while at the Parliament House! That aside, the four story castle, complete with battlements, has since been beautifully restored and furnished and sits amid 35 acres of variously themed gardens. On arrival we were famished so ate our picnic lunch in the shade before setting out to tour house and gardens.

Next stop was the very end of the peninsula, Taiaroa Head. Here we donned heavy canvas “dust” coats to take a wildlife tour in an all-terrain vehicle that jolted us up the privately owned steep cliffs for vista views of the peninsula and then down the cliffs for rock and beach viewing of fur seals and penguins. The baby seals were cavorting in small rock enclosed pools while the adults, blending in with the seaweed, slept contentedly on the warm rocks . The private owner of the land and tour company has built an extensive hide for viewing of the penguins. We had better views than we had managed before of the illusive and shy yellow-eyed penguins (but only three) on a protected beach. We watched one in particular on his arduous trek across the large expanse of sand to the brush covered steep dune where it roosts--enchanting. We also glimpsed views of the baby blue penguins well hidden in their burrows in and around the hide.
can you find the penguin?

Descending from the cliff tops, we arrived at the eastern tip of the peninsula for our advanced booked 6 PM tour of the Royal Albatross Centre. After a brief introduction and movie, we were guided to a hilltop observatory for views (binoculars provided) of the albatrosses--flying adults and also nesting adults (males and females take turns) with the precious 7-10 day old chicks (monogamous couples only breed every two years). Even though it was not a very windy day which makes for more spectacular flying demonstrations, we loved seeing the giant birds, wingspans up to 10 feet, glide around us. Watching them land awkwardly and then fold and tuck the ungainly wings was fascinating. Other than this protected area on Taiaroa Head, the birds are only found in the Chatham Islands many miles to the east of NZ and remote small islands deep in the southern oceans. We also had great views of nesting shags (cormorants).

At the end of our hour long tour, we were once again famished. Thankfully, we found a little converted post office restaurant called the 1908 Café “where the high road meets the low road” on the way back to town. A delightful but very full day.

1 comment:

  1. We are so enjoying all this.

    Love the chilly bin phrase. Right up there w/ the wee lookie, eh?
    Barb

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