19 Oct: A Well-Managed Day

The met service said there might be some sun in the morning, but in the afternoon showers, "some heavy." So we scheduled outdoor sightseeing first, starting by driving up the Otago peninsula that juts out from Dunedin town and makes its harbor more like a wide river than a bay.

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Looking back at the city. Smaller cruise ships dock in the center, almost downtown.

Looking out to the sea. Big cruise ships use the container port, center leeft.

Container ship threads the narrow exit.

At the very end of the peninsula we stopped in to the Royal Albatross center, where the big birds have their only mainland breeding colony. Unfortunately it is the start of courtship season and no humans are allowed into the area, even to peek from the hides. So we learned a lot about Royal Albatrosses from their displays, but didn't see any actual birds.

Next we went almost next door to Nature's Wonders, where they use Argo ATVs to take small groups out over the hills of a big ranch to see various creatures. We went along with another family of Americans, from Pasadena. This is almost the first time we've been close to Americans this whole trip. (There was a couple from Idaho on the train, and a couple from Oklahoma at Franz Josef glacier, and that's about it.)

So we bounced along tracks over the gorse-covered hills.

To a cliff edge to see nesting cormorants (Spotted Shags to be precise).

Click through to see the green breeding color around his eyes.

Then we put-putted to a hide where we could get close to fur seals.

(There are two more seal pics in the slide show.) Then into another hide from which, looking over and down, you could see a yellow-eyed penguin, quite close, but couldn't take a picture.

After a quick bite we went a couple Ks down the road to Penguin Place, where volunteers look after a whole colony of yellow-eyed penguins. They have a network of trenches and hides across the 50-acre site.

The green spots are newly-planted native trees; they are trying to recreate the coastal forest where the penguins like to nest.

Sneaking up on egg-sitting penguins.

Note egg.

By now a few drops of rain were falling so we went for the indoor experience at Larnach Castle, a stately home built by a banker around 1890. After he died the family sold it; it passed through multiple owners and fell into neglect; then in 1967 a newlywed couple bought it and the same people have been restoring it ever since. By now it's pretty much restored, and has extensive gardens as well. We went with the indoor part as rain was falling pretty heavily. No pictures allowed, but here's the outside.

And the tea-room, the former ballroom. David is saying, "I'm cold and wet. Gimme tea and a scone, and nobody gets hurt..."

Rain pelted down while we filled the diesel tank and bought some groceries, but by sunset the sky was starting to clear. Tomorrow we are off to Christchurch, stopping at the Mysterious Stones on the way.