A Day Around Dunedin

 Long time no see, readers! It's been a crazy few weeks of assignments and tests, and preparation for the next 3 weeks of exams. Last Friday (May 20), some friends and I had planned to make a trip to Mt. Cook. Unfortunately, the weather stopped us from making the journey there, so we decided to use the rental car to explore some of the areas around Dunedin.

  Our first stop was Baldwin Street. This street is famous for being the steepest street in the world! The street is just 350 meters long, but it takes about 10 minutes for someone to walk up the street because its so steep! They also hold the Cadbury Jaffa race at the top of the street. Participants line up at the very top of the hill, each one with their own individual numbered Jaffa, and throw it down the street.

Welcome to Baldwin Street

The view from the top

The history of Baldwin

The mural at the top

After the quick hike up Baldwin Street, it was out to the Peninsula in the hopes of seeing an albatross on this windy day. We took a quick tour of the Royal Albatross Center, and made our way to the walkway by the ocean to try and catch one of these giant birds coming off of the ocean. After waiting about 10 or 15 minutes, we didn't see anything so we moved to the other side of the center to a little beach. Here we stumbled upon some sea lions having a little snooze on the beach! 

Looking for an albatross

A lonely sea lion

The rest of the sea lions taking a snooze

  Later that evening, we went to a local beach called Sandfly Bay to try and see some of the yellow-eyed penguins coming in off of the water. Not only did we get to see two penguins come in and walk in from their nest, but we also got to watch a gorgeous sunset over the water. 

The sunset over the ocean

The beach of Sandfly Bay

Watching the waves

A pair of yellow-eyed penguins

Although our original plans didn't work out, everyone still had a great time exploring the many spots of Dunedin!