Nancy and Tim's Big Adventure

We are in Dunedin which is known in NZ as the "Edinburgh of the South" because the Scotts settled here in the 1840s while the English settled higher north (ie warmer!) around Christchurch. It has lovely Victorian buildings.

Dunedin is a university town but we are in between semesters at the moment so it's pretty quiet.

When we arrived we walked the downtown and the botanical gardens where there's an aviary (yes more birds!!!). Yesterday we visited the Royal Albatross Center (which is the only mainland Albatross colony and nesting site in the word) and The Opera, which is a conservation and rehabilitation center for the rarest (and endangered) yellow-eyed penguins. We didn't see these penguins in the wild (bad timing) but we saw some in their rehab center. Very nice day despite the clouds and occasional rain.

Today we took a day trip to Oamaru which was the largest city in NZ in the 1850s. It has beautifully preserved limestone Victorian buildings. We visited the Little Blue Penguins colony and Bushy beach where the yellow-eyed penguins nest, but again no wild siting - they are pretty unpredictable these penguins!! We also visited the Steampunk HQ in Oamaru - a mash-up of Victorian era mechanical technology and surreal art.Read more