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Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula
Aug. 18th, 2018 01:13 amWe rolled into Dunedin at 3:30 and decided to go straight to the Otago Settlers Museum to maximize our time. That was a very modern, well-curated take on the history of the area since white people arrived. Perhaps the most distinctive thing was that the early realities with the Maori was very cooperative and there was a lot of intermarriage. Dunedin is a university town and IT hub, so they had a special exhibit about computers, including the very first one brought in by Cadbury in the early 1960s. There was also a display of models of the proposed reinvention of the harbor to include a showpiece performing arts center, aquarium, and hotel/conference center.
We left as the museum was closing at five and found Aria, our morning for the night. Dinner was one of several Japanese places along Green Street about a mile from the motel.
In the morning we went to the Botanical Gardens right across from the motel and had breakfast in their cafe, the Croque-o-dile. Their idea if a croque was more like a breakfast sub, but still pretty tasty, and the others enjoyed their crepes. After breakfast we had thought to wander briefly and then go to the art museum, but the gardens were so fascinating that we spent the whole morning there. They have an aviary with an amazing assortment of native and imported birds--such a variety of parrots--and their Rhododendron Dell is astonishing. I've never seen rhodis growing as trees before!
Finally we made our way back down the impressive hill (one thing about volcanic island, they tend to be hilly) and headed toward the peninsula. In the way we stopped at a fish & chips shop particularly recommended by the net and took our lunch to the Esplanade at St Claire, where we enjoyed a tasty assortment of fried treats overlooking the beach. Before continuing our trip we strolled along the beach to discover what must be the largest sandbags in the world (anti-erosion devices at least thirty feet long and five or six feet high) and the St Claire Poles, a set of large wooden poles, like the remnants of a pier, only not, stuck into the beach. Mysterious.
Continuing out the Otago Peninsula we gaped and gasped at the amazing views down to the water on either side of the central ridge we were travelling. The road got pretty narrow and twisty, but we made it safely out to the Penguin Place near the tip with enough time for me to have a ten-minute nap before our tour.
After an introduction about the yellow-eyed penguins for whom this refugee was created we got to see the two currently in their recovery facility. Nigel was bitten by a sea lion, but after four surgeries he is well enough that they planned to release him the next day. Chile had a shoulder injury and was dangerously underweight, but was healing well and they expected to release him in another week or so.
From there we boarded busses that took us up to the top of the farm where we could get a view of the beach where we would be watching for penguins. As we walked down from there we passed several NZ fur seals and a couple of Little Blue Penguins holed up in the little boxes the refugee provides. We also spotted a Hooker's sea lion coming ashore down on the beach. At the bottom of the hill we entered a system of covered trenches stretching for hundreds of meters along the beach and connecting the various blinds constructed to allow people to observe the extremely short and nervous penguins. We settled in to watch and we're rewarded after about twenty minutes by the sight of a penguin coming out of the water and walking up a track to one of the boxes placed further inland. Altogether we saw three individuals, which is very good with these very anti-social birds. As we watched, our guide quietly told stories about the different individuals. One of the most heart-warming is that there is a same-sex couple that have been a pair for the past few years. This year there was an extra chick somehow, so the researchers gave it to the boys and they are raising it together.
Leaving the Penguin Place we raced back inland and arrived at Lanarch Castle just in time to change for dinner. The only castle in NZ, it was originally built in the late 1800s, fell into disrepair and was bought and renovated in the 1960s by the family who still own it today. We stayed in the Lodge, near the former stables, but got to have dinner right in the castle!
The food was lovely (crayfish bisque, duck, salmon, steak) and the company was quite interesting. There was a couple from Dunedin celebrating the man's birthday, and a couple from California visiting her parents, who are living in Timaru. Their two kids, five and eight, were very sweet and the daughter instantly attached herself to Alice, so they kept themselves entertained while the rest of us had grown-up talk. The room was stunning, with hand-carved panels and ceiling and beautiful Wood everywhere.
In the morning we had breakfast in the Stables, which are now more hostel-like accommodations, and then toured the castle along with the other family from dinner. It's a beautiful place and they've done an amazing job restoring it and re-furnishing it, sometimes even managing to find the original pieces and buy them back. The gardens are also lovely, but it was rainy and we wanted to get on the road, so we bid farewell to our new friends and headed off in the vague direction of Te Anau.
We left as the museum was closing at five and found Aria, our morning for the night. Dinner was one of several Japanese places along Green Street about a mile from the motel.
In the morning we went to the Botanical Gardens right across from the motel and had breakfast in their cafe, the Croque-o-dile. Their idea if a croque was more like a breakfast sub, but still pretty tasty, and the others enjoyed their crepes. After breakfast we had thought to wander briefly and then go to the art museum, but the gardens were so fascinating that we spent the whole morning there. They have an aviary with an amazing assortment of native and imported birds--such a variety of parrots--and their Rhododendron Dell is astonishing. I've never seen rhodis growing as trees before!
Finally we made our way back down the impressive hill (one thing about volcanic island, they tend to be hilly) and headed toward the peninsula. In the way we stopped at a fish & chips shop particularly recommended by the net and took our lunch to the Esplanade at St Claire, where we enjoyed a tasty assortment of fried treats overlooking the beach. Before continuing our trip we strolled along the beach to discover what must be the largest sandbags in the world (anti-erosion devices at least thirty feet long and five or six feet high) and the St Claire Poles, a set of large wooden poles, like the remnants of a pier, only not, stuck into the beach. Mysterious.
Continuing out the Otago Peninsula we gaped and gasped at the amazing views down to the water on either side of the central ridge we were travelling. The road got pretty narrow and twisty, but we made it safely out to the Penguin Place near the tip with enough time for me to have a ten-minute nap before our tour.
After an introduction about the yellow-eyed penguins for whom this refugee was created we got to see the two currently in their recovery facility. Nigel was bitten by a sea lion, but after four surgeries he is well enough that they planned to release him the next day. Chile had a shoulder injury and was dangerously underweight, but was healing well and they expected to release him in another week or so.
From there we boarded busses that took us up to the top of the farm where we could get a view of the beach where we would be watching for penguins. As we walked down from there we passed several NZ fur seals and a couple of Little Blue Penguins holed up in the little boxes the refugee provides. We also spotted a Hooker's sea lion coming ashore down on the beach. At the bottom of the hill we entered a system of covered trenches stretching for hundreds of meters along the beach and connecting the various blinds constructed to allow people to observe the extremely short and nervous penguins. We settled in to watch and we're rewarded after about twenty minutes by the sight of a penguin coming out of the water and walking up a track to one of the boxes placed further inland. Altogether we saw three individuals, which is very good with these very anti-social birds. As we watched, our guide quietly told stories about the different individuals. One of the most heart-warming is that there is a same-sex couple that have been a pair for the past few years. This year there was an extra chick somehow, so the researchers gave it to the boys and they are raising it together.
Leaving the Penguin Place we raced back inland and arrived at Lanarch Castle just in time to change for dinner. The only castle in NZ, it was originally built in the late 1800s, fell into disrepair and was bought and renovated in the 1960s by the family who still own it today. We stayed in the Lodge, near the former stables, but got to have dinner right in the castle!
The food was lovely (crayfish bisque, duck, salmon, steak) and the company was quite interesting. There was a couple from Dunedin celebrating the man's birthday, and a couple from California visiting her parents, who are living in Timaru. Their two kids, five and eight, were very sweet and the daughter instantly attached herself to Alice, so they kept themselves entertained while the rest of us had grown-up talk. The room was stunning, with hand-carved panels and ceiling and beautiful Wood everywhere.
In the morning we had breakfast in the Stables, which are now more hostel-like accommodations, and then toured the castle along with the other family from dinner. It's a beautiful place and they've done an amazing job restoring it and re-furnishing it, sometimes even managing to find the original pieces and buy them back. The gardens are also lovely, but it was rainy and we wanted to get on the road, so we bid farewell to our new friends and headed off in the vague direction of Te Anau.
