Dunedin

Wednesday 24 - Friday 26 May

From the peace and serenity of Mount Cook we headed for the hustle and bustle of another city, this time Dunedin.
Our hostel called Hogwartz(!) and located just on the edge of the city centre provided us with a very comfortable double-room. Better still, we were located within five minutes' walk of South Island's most famous and revered brewery, Speights. Inevitably we wasted no time in booking an evening brewery tour...

Founded in 1876, Speights Brewery has a colourful history which includes seeing off at least a dozen other breweries in Dunedin, and demands for prohibition.

The tour itself was interesting and informative, covering everything from the first recorded references to brewing (by the ancient Egyptians), to Captain Cook's introduction of brewing to New Zealand, and the evolution of the Speights Brewery itself.

The dying art of the cooper

Pre-war copper brewing vessels are still used today

Naturally, the highlight of the evening was the chance to sample each of Speight's various products... Cheers!

Thursday 25

Another rest and 'catch-up' day today, getting mundane stuff like laundry and shopping out of the way (it's not all adventure, this travelling lark). Time to give the city beyond the brewery a more thorough investigation.

As its name might suggest, Dunedin has a heavy Scottish influence and was named in a tribute to Edinburgh by early Scottish settlers. The heritage is still obvious today through the abundance of shops selling kilts, tartan and other Scottish paraphernalia; even Haggis is available here.

Whereas many cities are laid out around a central square, Dunedin has a pleasantly landscaped octagon at its centre, surrounded by fashionable bars restaurants and cafes. The exhaustive shopping streets lead away in each direction.

Apparently, Dunedin's aesthetically pleasing railway station is the most photographed building in New Zealand, but when we saw it, it seemed to be covered in scaffolding and green netting. Oh well.

A long afternoon's blogging was rounded off with further refreshment at Speights Ale House (next to the brewery).

Friday 26 May

Not far from Dunedin lies Taiaroa Head, home to the only mainland breeding colony of albatrosses in the world. Going to see these rare birds seemed like a good way to spend a Friday morning, but we hadn´t anticipated the lengthy car journey (no petrol stations on the way!) to the tip of the Otago Peninsular. With winter well underway the morning was cloudy, grey and rainy but after an entertaining and informative talk about the lifecycle of the albatross we climbed the wet and windswept hill to the colony. Alas, the only obvious albatross was a solitary chick nestled on a path on the hillside (too far away to take a decent picture) but our patience was rewarded by a brief flypast; apologies for the picture quality!

Beneath the Albatross Colony lies Taiaroa Head´s other unique claim to fame - the world´s only functional Armstrong Disappearing Gun, based at the sea defence of Fort Taiaroa. This six-inch gun, installed in 1889, lies in a bunker and can be loaded and aimed underground before being raised, fired, and then retracted into the hillside - effectively ´disappearing´.

The Armstrong Disappearing Gun

Driving back from the Albatross Colony we spotted a sign for 'Penguin Place', where you have the opportunity to view rare Yellow-Eyed Penguins. Although it was four o'clock by now, we stopped on the off-chance that we might still be able to take a tour; and luckily, the next tour was at 4.15

Penguin Place itself is a hillside leading to a grassy plain by the seashore, with a warren of camouflaged tunnels offering various vantage points for penguin-spotting. Our guide was incredibly enthusiastic, speedily leading us from hide to hide as various penguins emerged from the sea and comically waddled inland.

All in all we had a fantastic day at Taiaroa Head and would recommend these activities to anyone; even though the weather wasn't great it didn't dampen our experience.