Day 14 - Te Anau to Dunedin 

The drive from Te Anau to Dunedin, through rolling hills filled with sheep ranches, was uneventful. One short section has been curiously dubbed by the Kiwis as the Presidential Highway.

It was about a 3.5 hour drive before arriving in Dunedin and being around mid-day we headed straight out to the Otago Peninsula with some of New Zealand's best wildlife attractions. All the way out on the end of the peninsula is the Tiaroa Royal Albatross Colony. But, this time of the year, the albatross are mating, not nesting. We saw quite a few soaring overhead in the blustery ocean winds. Watching the Spotted Shags catching the updrafts along the sea cliffs was quite an experience too! We spotted several fur seals on the nearby Pilot Beach and one was frolicking out in the waves. We worked our way back inland and stopped at the Penguin Place for a tour of the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Colony. This is a great conservation project in progress. You can view the penguins from camouflaged trenches and viewing platforms so as to not disturb the bird's normal acitivities.

We checked into the victorian style Hulme's Court B&B and walked to the city center for a superb dinner at Rogano's.