Sun 15th Feb – Tues 17th Feb
Accommodation: The Thomas Gregg Apartments
Sun 15th Feb
We eventually departed Oamaru around 11.30 am and our first stop was to view the Moeraki Boulders. These are large, spherical objects scattered along Koekohe Beach. They are actually concretions that were formed roughly 60 million years ago. They started off as pebbles but grew in size as mud and other debris compacted and calcified around the core.
Our second stop was at the Moeraki Lighthouse where we took a walk along the headland track and saw a huge colony of fur seals; some were even lying up on the walking path. They clearly didn’t get the memo about keeping 10 m from the humans! We stopped off at the nearby Moeraki Tavern for lunch which was located right on the harbour and was a most scenic spot to enjoy our lunch. We had one more stop before making our way to Dunedin and that was at Trotter’s Gorge scenic reserve where Mark and I did a short walk but Coll and David went for longer.
It was after 4 pm by the time we made it to our apartment in Dunedin and it was a lovely clean and modern space for our next two nights. We were all exhausted after the long day of travel and sightseeing so we dined at home.
Mon 16th Feb
Today’s forecast was for cold and bleak conditions so Colleen and I didn’t bother with a morning walk. The boys braved the conditions for a ride although they did get wet.
Our morning activity was a 2 he guided walking tour of Dunedin at 10:30 am and, whilst nothing to rave about, it was reasonably interesting and filled in the morning. We discovered that Dunedin had been the largest and main cities of New Zealand in its early period but is struggling to carve out its identity in the post Covid era. Tourism, education, and to some extent Tech, have are the main industries now replacing a space previously dominated by the export of wool, grains and sheep. Another aspect we discovered on our tour was how hilly the city is. It’s reminiscent of San Francisco and actually does boat one of the steepest streets on the world.
Our tour wrapped up around 1 pm and we had a Yum Cha lunch in the city. The cold and windy weather meant we ditched our earlier plan for spending the afternoon cycling and we opted instead to drive out to view the Royal Albatross Centre. This had been a suggestion from the other couple on our walking tour from this morning. The drive out to the Centre was about 40 minutes and covered much of the same path that the boys rode this morning. It was a most scenic journey with the majority being a flat and winding drive that hugged the edge of the picturesque harbour. Dunedin is really a beautiful part of the world; it’s just a pity about the weather and the water temperature. Had the day’s weather been a bit nicer, it’s a path I would have happily enjoyed cycling as there was a separate cycle path running alongside the road enabling greater cycler safety.
It was dismal weather whilst we were out at the Albatross Centre but we did mange to see quite a few of the magnificent birds gliding and soaring along the extreme wind currents. The organized tours were all booked out but we weren’t too disappointed as spending an hour out on the hill in these elements was not a vibe today.
Dinner tonight was again back at our apartment. This proved to be a great evening as during the night we discussed and came up with workable solutions to the problems governments and working communities face with AI, the problems of the tech-bro oligarchs and to global wealth inequality. We only hope that other, more senior and influential than us, have come up with similar solutions!
Our Dunedin lodging was very comfortable but not in the most ideal location so I would not recommend this accommodation. There is a story here though. I had initially booked a great space, right in the centre of town, but realised only recently that I‘d booked this for the wrong year. By the time I came to try and re-book the lodging I found it had been taken and there were few decent options available. So, there is a bit of a caveat to my poor location choice this for this apartment. Having said that, there were some decent cafes and restaurants located not too far way but none were open on the Sunday or Monday f our trip. That’s another thing to be aware of down here. Very little is open from Sat lunch time to Tuesday. The place I initially booked was much better located and is linked here.
We had enjoyed our short stay in Dunedin but none of us would come back here and would not suggest it as a stop in this part of New Zealand. Just FYI, we’d all suggest a stop in nearby Oamaru though. We do wonder if the dismal weather clouded our judgement though; no pun intended.
