We slept in a bit late following our escape from Milford Sound. We had spent the previous night catching up on news, playing Mastermind and revelling in the novelty of not having to go outside to walk to the bathroom.

The journey to Dunedin was relatively uneventful and long. Naturally it was quite scenic but, ignoring the scenery, the most unusual thing was a stretch of road called the Presidential Highway between the towns of Gore and Clinton. We arrived in Dunedin just after lunch and made our way to our hostel. Having checked in quickly, we then tried to head out to the Royal Albatross Colony, some 20km out on a peninsula. We got part way there before I got a bit worried about the needle of the fuel gauge being well into the red and the distinct lack of petrol stations. We headed back and filled up but decided that we might not have enough time before sunset to reach the albatrosses so we headed instead for Larnach Castle. Larnach is New Zealand's only castle and, coming from a country that has real castles, it's not that impressive. Having said that, it is quite a nice looking place in its own right. The grounds are very well kept and it has stunning views.

Leaving the castle, we went slightly further up the peninsula and across to see if we could see any Yellow Eyed penguins. It was getting late and cold by this time and from where we left the car it was a forty minute walk to the beach where the penguins come ashore and nest. A few people coming back the other way told us that they had seen some penguins and some sealions and so we went on. As we walked further along the beach, we saw a couple of sealions come out of the water and get comfy on the sand. We gave them a reasonably wide berth, as suggested by the signs at the entrance to the beach and carried on. The beach has a hide tucked away just beyond the sand where you can watch the penguins come ashore without them seeing you. They won't come out of the water when people are visible. We had spotted two in the water further down the beach that waddled up the sand after we had passed.

We spent about twenty minutes in the hide before we started to get a bit too cold. During that time, I had to go down to the beach to ask some people not to stand in front of the hide as it would stop the penguins coming ashore. There were numerous signs at the top of the beach mentioning the penguins' behaviour but some people just don't seem very good at reading. Unfortunately my camera battery decided to give up and the spare one was in the car so I didn't manage to get any pictures. Regardless, it was fun to watch a couple of penguins waddle out of the water and jump over rocks to reach their nests.

Back in Dunedin itself, we made some supper and went out to watch Spiderman 2. I think it was certainly better than the first one.

The following day we did a little shopping for some essentials and then headed for the Cadbury factory. Cadbury's chocolate in New Zealand tastes slightly different (according to my expert on the subject) due to the source of the cocoa beans, the fat content of the milk used and subtle differences in the manufacturing process. Personally I find it hard to tell the difference, it's all good to me! We went on the factory tour although, since it was a Sunday, the factory was not producing chocolate and so there wasn't anything to see. Apart from being given free chocolate, the best part of the tour was watching a one ton waterfall of chocolate. Surprisingly, it was less than I though it would be.

After leaving Cadbury's, we headed up the peninsula and found the albatross colony. Our guide, Colin, was extremely knowledgable and although we didn't get to see any adult albatross flying, we could see, from a distance and through darkened glass, some young birds that had not yet learned how to fly. They were enormous though. I had always though of albatross being like big seaguls but they're not. They're huge! So now we know quite a bit more about albatrosses. The colony in Dunedin is the only one in the world easily accessible to people. Annually about ten to twenty pairs of albatross breed there every year. Despite what someone in our hostel thought, it was totally worth the trip out and the entrance fee.

While we were absorbing information from Colin, he told us about a beach on the peninsula where we might be able to see some Blue penguins (the smallest breed of penguin). Before we went off in search of the beach, he showed us a metal storage container by the albatross colony under which some Blue penguins had decided to nest. We couldn't see much of them as it was dark under there but they did make a loud noise when we got too close.

We went to the beach and learned from an information board there that the penguins only came in after dusk. We weren't sure whether of not to wait that long but I'm glad we did. Quite a few people turned up as the light faded and one of them was a lady doing a degree in tourism who wanted to know how we had learned of the beach and if we thought the information sign was clear enough. She told us that the best way to see the penguins was to lie down next to the path leading up from the beach and keep quiet. The penguins don't like the noise, flashing or bright lights and most of all they are intimidated by the height of people (hence the lying down). It was pretty dark when the penguins made their way up the beach and it was wonderful to watch them. About ten of them reached the path where we were and waited for a while. They knew we were there and when they decided that we weren't a threat to them and that there wasn't a way round us, they waddled past as a group.

Some of the people waiting left at that point so they missed the second group of penguins coming up. Unfortunately, the Japanese tourists didn't go too. They were sniffing and coughing loudly and refused to lie down. They also wouldn't turn off the beeping sounds from their cameras, not that I imagine they were getting good pictures in the dark anyway. I just don't think they understood what they were seeing. It was more about putting a tick in the box next to "See Blue penguins" to them than anything else.

The second group of penguins weren't as cautious as the first but since some of the people had left, there was a big open path for them to take and they took it. By this time though, the Japanese were getting quite fidgety and a handful of penguins were waiting to get up but were too frightened by the noise and people so we headed back to the car and most of the other people there took their cue from us and left too. On the way up to the car, we passed a few penguins as they walked up to their nests and we tried to give them a wide berth.

I felt quite privileged being able to watch those timid creatures walk past me knowing that they weren't performing but just acting naturally. It is a shame that the beach can not be more protected from people so that the penguins are not discouraged from using it but apparently there is politics involved.