2026 Day 22 Te Anau to Dunedin

February 13, 2026

We woke up to a cloudy day with some intermittent rain. It was a 3 hour 40 minute drive to our next destination, Dunedin, via the route through Raes Junction which we had not driven before. I had planned to do some short hikes at Gabriel's Gully, a gold minng area, but when we arrived the weather was still very wet and cloudy, so we skipped the sightseeing and drove on to our AirBnb in Dunedin.

We had booked the Otago Peninsula In-Depth Tour which started at 6 PM and departed from The Octagon area in downtown Dunedin. It was only about a 10-minute drive from the AirBnb. We left a few hours early to allow us time to find parking and get an early dinner at one of the restaurants. It's a good thing we left when we did, because finding parking proved to be difficult. The first two lots we drove to were full, and then we finally found a parking garage at Lower Moray Place that was just a short walk away from The Octagon.

All of the driving around left us with less than an hour to eat. We found the Pizza Bar that could serve us each a slice of pizza quickly, and we managed to arrive at our meeting place with about 10 minutes to spare.

The tour was 5 hours and drove us in vans up to the tip of the Otago Peninsula to the Royal Albatross Centre where we would join the Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience. This is the tour that allows us to view the little blue penguins as they come ashore after dark each night and return to their nests. I had wanted to book just that tour which was a lot cheaper since it didn't include the transportation from central Dunedin, but that tour was completely sold out several months ago. Booking the in-depth tour was the only way we could get access to see the little blue penguins. It did have the big advantage that we did not have to do any driving on the peninsula after dark on very hilly and twisty roads.

The tour made a few stops along the peninsula for some views and to see birds.

We had time before sunset to explore the area around the Royal Albatross Centre. The winds were calm, so we did not see any albatross (they like wind). But we saw plenty of gulls. They were noisy and we saw gull poop everywhere

We gathered inside the albatross centre for the start of the penguin experience. First there was a presentation on the penguins, their behavior and what to expect. Then we all walked to the viewing platforms near the beach.

I barely had time to get the camera set up when I spotted the first group of penguins. Their behaviour was to gather in a group out at sea close to shore, forming a "raft." Then as a group they swam to shore, forming a "waddle" as they ran across the beach. Then they slowly picked their way up the rocks onto a path that led to their nests.

The guide was suprised that the first group came in so early. After that, we only had to wait a few minutes before another group came in, and another.... and the later groups got quite large. Occasionally we would see a straggler penguin make a go of the shore run by itself. These were referred to as the hero penguins.

Viewing conditions were very good. Periodically the guide had us switch sides to allow everyone a chance to see the penguins run from the beach as well as waddle up to their nests.

Penguins were still hanging around the area when the lights were turned off. The guide counted over 115 penguins for the evening. This was a very enjoyable experience: the penguins were just so darn cute!