Sightseeing around Dunedin
Dunedin (Otepoti) was New Zealand’s first city founded by Scottish settlers. I had already heard a lot about it, as it’s well-known for Viktorian/Edwardian architecture, a vibrant arts scene, New Zealand’s oldest University and the historical Railway Station. So one more place to visit.
Nicole had passed me some hours on of her Flexipass, so it was a “free” bustrip for me. Once I had installed myself in a hostal right in the centre I went straight to the Visitors centre to inform myself about possibilities to get the top of the Otago Peninsula to see some Albatross. It turned out to be quite disapointing. No local city busses, only very expensive organised tours… . Due to the weekend only one of them had still an available spot. I even considered renting a bike. But it would be a long, long ride!
Facebook groups
I remembered that I joined some Facebook groups such as New Zealand Ride Share or New Zealand RideShare Backpackers and Share ride hitchhike pool travellers New Zealand. While visiting the Railway station, a very impressive Flemish Renaissance architectual landmark, built in 1906 famous for its ornate Oamaru stone facade and lavish mosaic tiled booking hall, I tried my luck and wrote some posts.
In less then 30 minutes I got two answers. One from a lovely lady, who offered participating in a hike to a hut near Dunedin. There would be a spot available for me too if I fancied going. The other one, came from a friendly man, who offered me a ride to the Royal Albatross centre the next day and was willing to spend a day together also visiting the famous Larnach Castle. I could meet him in a Café in the city centre “right now”.
So I had a quick peek into the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum and went to that Café. We had a short chat and agreed on leaving the next morning, meeting at the same spot again. WOW – THAT WAS EASY!
To celebrate my luck, I walked all the way to the Botanic Garden, passing the oldest University and took myself out to Dinner afterwards in a cosy Cambodian Restaurant.
Otago Peninsula
At 8 a.m. I was all set to go and explore the incredible wildlife ot the Otago Pensinula. Timothy turned out to be the most pleasant driver I could have wished for. He was friendly, funny and slow. Slow in a good way. He would not rush,… rather stop to take in the view which allowed me to make pictures. It was the perfect way of travelling the Peninsula and seeing the sights.
Royal Albatross Centre
First we headed for the Royal Albatross Centre up North. It was still closed when we arrived, so we strolled a bit around, while enjoying the breath-taking view of the coastline. Spotted some seal and a million gulls, but no Albatrosses.
We headed to Taiaroa Head and had a coffee there. We could spot the Albatross far below… but again, only expensive tours allowed visitors to pass. What a shame to be limited this way. Anyway, we had a good laugh about our thoughts of how to get around it!
Seals and Sea lions
A bit later, off we went further down again. I spotted “Allans Road” on the map, which was leading us to a lovely beach. This was THE PLACE TO BE. We were surprised by the amount of seals taking a nap on the beach. Some were sooo covered in sand, that you would almost walk over them.
Naturally we respected their space and kept our distance. Only once, we came too close, because we spotted the seal very late, as “she” was hidden behind some drift wood. She seemed not impressed by us at all… so we took our chance to make a quick picture.
The walked the whole beach, while spotting Albatrosses, seals and even a sea lion. This was heaven. This was more than I could have ever expected or booked as a guided tour. Sharing it with Timothy, who turned out to be a fun and witty companion made it even more worthwhile!
Larnach Castle
Eventually we arrived at the entrance of the Larnach Castle. Again… entrance fees where required. We were still NOT up for it. So we parked the car and went for a walk around the property. Hopefully we could get at least a glimpse of this beautiful Gothic Revival masterpiece.
All of a sudden we spotted a kind of track along the big roots of an immense tree. It only took us a exchange of glance. Even though we knew eachother for not even 5 hours we instantly knew what we were up too. So we took our chance to explore. And there we were… ending up right behind the Castle.
Wondering around, not believing our luck, the first three people we met turned out to be guards. As still not truly realising where we were… we happened to pass a kind of “trone”. Suddenly tree guards came walking towards us. Not ideal, I thought! So I pointed out to Timothy to sit on the throne and I would make a picture…. . Two guards passed. But the last one stopped and looked at us.Sh*t.. what would come next? Would she want to see our tickets?
But no…she said “Give me your phone” to Timothy…who instantly did as he was told. “Oh, you sit there,…. both of you… I’ll make a picture of you guys!” We were so taken off guard, that the only thing we could do was starting to giggle like two teenagers! After she had taken some photos she looked at them with disgrace. “This camera is no good. Give me yours…” she was now looking at me. This time it was my turn to obey! It was all too funny and akward at the same time. Surely a moment to remember!
We had a stroll around the beautiful gardens and the little Gift shop before heading back. It had been an unforeseen welcoming adventure to end our versatile day out!
Metro Cinema Dunedin
After being dropped of in town, I had a quick shower and went of to the Cinema. The Metro Cinema turned out to be a lovely quaint cinema. It was me and one other lady – so kind of a private movie night out!
The owner had this cinema for 26 years, he told us. I have never been to the movies like this before. We found ourselves ending up singing along, and in the end even crying together! I was sitting one row below the lady, but when “the End” came, we still sat for a while before leaving and thanking eachother for sharing this movie.
What a wonderful trip: I definitely wrote my own history in Dunedin!
