NZ Day 24 and 25. Alexandra to Dunedin, Albatross Colony and Blue Penguins

And so we left Clyde and headed towards the East coast and the town of Dunedin. The drive is pleasant, through the Roxburgh valley and through fruit growing country. We were told that some of the orchards are owned by Canadians from BC who can then operate their Okanagan orchards in the Northern hemisphere summer and the NZ ones in the Southern hemisphere summer.
The first think that surprised us in Dunedin was passing the city limit sign about 15kms south of any real sign of the town! Obviously planning for the future! Arriving in town and checking with the i-site we headed out along the Otago peninsula to the Royal Albatross Centre. The end of the peninsula has ~100 breeding pairs of Royal Albatross, though only about 10 were sited where they could be seen from viewing areas. The end of the peninsular had also been the home of some coastal defence bunkers and guns, again originating in response to perceived Russian threats at the end of the 19th century, and then maintained through the 2 world wars, but never used.

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After the Albatross, we waited for dusk and the return of the blue penguins from yet another day at sea. The penguins nest at the end of the peninsular but every day, before dawn, they take to the water and spend the day catching fish, up to 15kms offshore, returning to their nests just after dusk.

Monday! Rained overnight but not too bad in the morning. Nice showers at the Dunedin holiday camp ($40/night). Had a skype with Sean and Tristan who had just been rock climbing. Went into Dunedin and did our own walking tour, starting with Starbucks! Well actually staring at the old Railway Station, an attractive building, and outside is a glass encased steam train, built around 1950! and last used in 1970 (?).

Dunedin Station. You could believe you were in Scotland!

Steam outside Dunedin Station

University building, Dunedin

University, Dunedin

Started by walking East to the University, which is home to 20k to 30k students. The older buildings are very elegant. Then back along the main street to the Octagon and the Municipal building and St Paul’s Anglican cathedral. Unfortunately the altar end of St Paul’s is a new addition (which won architecture awards, but IMHO is a disaster. There’s no continuity with the old building style and the addition only serves to increase the separation between celebrant and laity.
Then a tour to find the street art which was a bit less interesting than, say, KL’s or Penang’s. Felt like they were jumping on a bandwagon. Then the Chinese Gardens, built in 2007, in planning for 8 years and actually built in Shanghai and then dismantled and shipped to Dunedin for reassembly. Pleasant enough, and peaceful etc. though IMHO spoiled by the concrete construction of the bridge and breeze block underpinning of the buildings. Later we visited the Chinese garden in Sydney, which is absolutely stunning. Finally the first cathedral, Presbyterian. The original minister was a nephew of Robert Burns.

Dunedin Street Art

Chinese Garden, Dunedin

Chinese Garden, Dunedin

At the top of Baldwin St., world’s steepest street at ~20 deg.

After this we visited Baldwin Street (just up the road from ****Street). Steepest road in the world at 20 degrees slope.
Out of Dunedin we headed north up the coast to get a few miles under our belts. We aimed for the round rocks at Moeraki. The weather got rainier and rainier as we went and I had the stupid idea that we hadn’t had many nights in picturesque campsites like the first DOC one in Rotorua. So we drove on and found one about 10kms beyond our target, but by then the rain had set in and there wasn’t really anything picturesque to appreciate in the dark!