Dunedin and the steepest street

On our way up to Dunedin we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders. Those big boulders are scattered along a 50m stretch of the beach. Due to wind and weather some of them were cracked open and you could see that they are hollow. They were formed in the sea bed about 60 million years ago.

South of Dunedin is the Otago Peninsular. We wanted to explore the rough nature, long beaches and wildlife. So we followed the narrow, windy streets to the Albatross Encounter. We were lucky to spot one of those big, majestic birds. It was just gliding above our heads. At the beaches we found yellow-eyed penguins and sea lions. Just great.

Since we wanted to meet Vic the next evening in Dunedin we walked around the city. In 2011 Vic had been working for us as a diving instructor on the island.

We didn’t know that Dunedin has the steepest drivable road in the world. With its steepest gradient of 1 in 2.86 was quite an effort to climb but a must do.

Afterwards we wandered around the botanical garden and the big aviators. Most of the birds we had seen in Australia live in nature. From the garden we had a great overview of the city.

Dunedin is a city with charm and character. The city appeared older through its Victorian and Edwardian style of the houses. Especially the University and the Railway Station were very impressive.

We met Vic at the Octagon and with wine and yummy pizza we exchanged some stories. She told us about here experiences diving with sea lions and I was almost ready to jump in the water. But the rain and the cold just stopped me.

The next day we continued our trip to the Arthur Pass, seeing our last snow caps for the next weeks.