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We managed to drive to Dunedin, on the Otago Penninsular, without getting lost once! But this may be due to the fact that there aren't that many raods here to get lost on...or it could just be our fantastic sense of direction and map reading skills?!
Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinburgh, so as you can imagine there were plenty of Scottish influences there! Even a Robert Burns statue, which meant that Laura wouldn't stop doing here "Rabbie Burrrns" impression! We had a little explore of the town which was really nice, with it's Scottish shops and and themed pubs and cafes, it even had a Princes street running through the centre, just like in Edinburgh, Scotland! We had a look around the very impressive Train Station, which is the most photographed in the world, so we joined the many before us and took photos. Certainly a lot nicer than Burton-On-Trent train station! We then jumped in our camper van and drove to Weller's Rock on the Otago Penninsular, which is the wildlife capital of NZ - and we agree! We took an hours cruise and saw so many rare birds and animals just a short distance off the shore. We spotted different types of Shags (a bird!), Fur Seals and their pups, Blue Pengiuns and Albatross. The penninsular is the only area on land where you can see Albatross, so we were very lucky to get a glimpse of them flying. We even saw the babies in their nests. The Albatross babies were up to a metre tall and the adult's wingspan reach around 3m. The Albatross are so rare now, as they are often caught in long liners (fishing lines) and they only have one chick at a time, every 2 years, for up to 5 or 6 years.
The seals were in two separate areas, one area for breeding and another for the male's batchelor pad! They seemed pretty relaxed and just lazed on the rocks, but apparently they are quite active when they gather food. They can dive down as far as 200m!! After the cruise we walked down to the beach and managed to catch a glimpse of a seal really close! It was fast asleep and so didn't seem too bothered that we were around, so we have some good photos of it. We also saw a Sea Lion (well, we think it was a Sea Lion, we looked at our guide and it looked like one!) which we also got some good photos of. This day was one of the best experiences we've had so far, as we managed to see so many animals in the wild, and up close too! Woo hoo!
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