Dunedin

After a busy few days settling into New Zealand (and recovering from jet lag), it was time to move on from Queenstown to the coastal city of Dunedin.

We picked up our hire car and off we went on a long drive up and down mountains, around lakes and through fields. We stopped off at a cute town called Lawrence which had a couple of quirky shops and an excellent chocolate shop!!

Tired from the drive, we relaxed in the evening and saved Dunedin centre for the next day. Our favourite part about the centre has to be the architecture. The buildings dated back to the Victorian and Edwardian times and were incredibly impressive. The railway station is well worth a visit then after that, you can pop along to the early settlers museum which is a new build but really interesting (and free).

After visiting Dunedin centre, we walked along the natural Otago Harbour which separates the Otago Peninsula from the mainland. It’s really chilled out and an easy walk. The next thing to do is drive along the Otago Peninsula. It’s beautiful and difficult to put into words! We went up to the Royal Albatross Centre but we didn’t see any albatross flying around with 2 mice on their back (if you like The Rescuers, you’ll know what I mean). We did however have a really good walk round and enjoyed a nice coffee with spectacular views.

We’re now in Oamaru and booked in to see the blue penguins arrive home to shore after a busy day fishing later on. Yay!!

I’d also better mention Moeraki boulders which we passed on the way to Oamaru. They’re large spherical boulders dotted along the coastline and they do look pretty amazing. Maori legend believes they were formed after one of their large sailing canoes was ship wrecked and the boulders represent different parts which were washed ashore from the wreck. The tide was coming in by the time we got there, but it was still easy to appreciate how cool they look.