Dunedin/Port Chalmers, New Zealand

 

The ship was cleared by 7:30 and leaving at 4:30, not the originally scheduled 5:00. We had another Cruise Critic arranged tour, meeting at 8:35 due to return at 4:30. Hmm, going to be close. There was a train sitting right next to the ship when we got off. One of the ship's tours took people on that vintage train to see the wilderness around the area. That would have been fun too! We met up with our guide and off we went.

 

Our first stop was in town for shopping and looking around. We all agreed that we could cut that short to save time and get back earlier. We were informed that it wouldn't work as the tours w/in the tour were scheduled at certain times. Hope we make it back to the ship! There was a street fair in Dunedin's Octagon Town Square. It happens once a year. We just happened to be there on that day. It was nice seeing what types of crafts they sell at their fairs. We walked around then met back at the van. We took off around the bay on a road right next to the water with no guard rail. That was interesting! It was a very windy road. We stopped at a place that sells Happy Hens. Our guide said they ship all over the world. No one in our group bought anything. The scenery was beautiful with green hills covered with sheep, birds by the water. We could see our ship across the bay in Port Chalmers, the main port of the area. The bay is very shallow so few ships go all the way to Dunedin.

Our first stop was a place called Natures Wonders. It is privately owned by some apparently wealthy people who have dedicated their land and time to preserving the yellow eyed penguins, the rarest on the planet. We boarded weird all terrain vehicles after being given jackets to keep the dust off. I think I had more dust on me from the jackets than from the ride. We went up and down a pretty bumpy road to the shore. The first stop was to see the fur seals. There must have been over a dozen tiny babies there, they were cute to watch. Our next stop was above a beach to see the penguins. There are 60 breeding pair that live on that beach. We only saw one, but it was great to see one at all! They had built a blind for us to look out from. Behind the blind was a cliff. We went out a door in the back to see the babies under the cliff. They were very cute. We saw 3 of them.

On the next hill over was the Royal Albatross Centre. We ate lunch there before our 2:00 tour. We were taken up a steep hill to a small building where we could look over the hill. There were 3 albatross sitting on their nests. We were able to see 2 of the babies also. Further down the slope, close to the water, were dozens of cormorant nests. They were interesting too! We didn't see any albatross in the air, but just seeing them sitting on their nests was wonderful. That colony is the only one in the world on the mainland. All the others are on islands. Of course to us New Zealand is an island, but I didn't mention that.

 

We took a different route back to the city, over the hills. It really was beautiful countryside. Once back in Dunedin we made a quick stop at the train station. It was gorgeous! We arrived at the ship at 4:15, we made it! It was a great tour.

 

We decided to eat in the Lido again so we could watch sail away. The albatross colony was on the point right at the mouth of the bay, so we knew we would see them again as we sailed by. There were at least a dozen of them on the hill, as well as a few flying around. Glad we were able to see them again. The royal albatross has a wing span of 9', so huge birds. Well worth seeing.