Penguins, penguins and more penguins!

We left Oamaru on Tuesday and headed down the coast towards Dunedin, stopping at Moeraki along the way to see the famous boulders in the sea (though I think it would have been more impressive at low tide...) and for a spot of lunch. We were soon discovering that shops and restaurants don't like to open on a Monday or a Tuesday... which meant that we didn't get to try out Fleur's place in Moeraki, a restaurant recommended in the guidebook that was good for fresh seafood. Ah well.

We reached Dunedin in the late afternoon of Tuesday and found ourselves a new home next to the waterfront (and public toilets), I'm getting quite used to the whole living in a campervan! Although dusk does pose a slight problem for us, a few hours every evening when we're at a loss for things to do. Most of the time we huddle together in the campervan cooking dinner and then maybe read, but our little lantern isn't so bright so that idea is usually our last resort. Lately we've taken to watching movies on my laptop while snuggled up in our sleeping bags, definately the way forward. As Holly put it, we need more options to 'kill dark time'.

Our first day in Dunedin was spent doing highly touristy things, such as visiting the Cadbury factory (chocolate galore, though I must say, NZ chocolate really doesn't taste as good as UK chocolate), walking up the world's steepest street - it really was quite steep and tasting our way through the Speight's brewery beer range.

Yesterday we took a little day trip out to the Otago Peninsular which is famous for its penguin and albatross sightings. Also found on the peninsular is NZ's only castle... if you can call it that! But it did have a turret, so I guess it qualifies. We didn't get to see any Royal Albatross when we went to the Royal Albatross Centre, but at Penguin place, we did get to see a few blue penguins in nesting boxes and were mega lucky enough to watch around 6-10 yellow eyed penguins come up from the sea, at one point we were only 3-4 meters away from one!