In and Around Dunedin - South Island

So far so good! I arrived in Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand without a hitch. My flights were mostly on time and uneventful. I've been staying with my cousin Kim and her husband Rob who have graciously opened their home to me and trusted me not to wreck their car. Despite the fact that I continue to turn on the window wipers instead of the blinker when turning I think it is going fairly well. At the very least, their car has some mighty clean windows. Over the past ~week I've spent most of my time in and around Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula.

Otago Peninsula and Otago Harbour














We've been out to some beautiful beaches (Tunnel Beach, Sandfly Bay, the Spit at Aramoana, and one near Moeraki) where we've seen sea lions, seals, albatross and watched yellow-eyed pengiuns come in from the ocean and hike (yes, for real...hiking penguins) to the nests in the bushes.

Sea lion














Yellow Eyed Pengiuns hiking up to their nests














We also went out kayaking in Otago harbour near Kim and Rob's home, rode the Taieri Gorge train to see inland Otago, and went geocaching with Sophie, a local geocacher, and her family to find a cache for the Samurai Bunny Travel Bug created and sent with me by my Brother and Nephew...on Easter no less. Happy travels Samurai Bunny! Out and about Kim and I drove north from Dunedin up the coast to see the Moeraki Boulders, which are an odd and fascinating feat of nature.

Moeraki Boulders














Then, over the weekend we took a trip to Mt. Cook where we rented a nice little cabin with a stellar view and hiked up to a couple of glacial lakes.















And, of course, no trip to New Zealand would be complete without seeing more wooly sheep in a week than I've seen in my entire life! Next, I'm off to Queenstown and I'm hoping for continued good weather!