{"id":853,"date":"2026-02-13T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/?p=853"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:08:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:08:48","slug":"2026-day-22-te-anau-to-dunedin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/2026\/02\/13\/2026-day-22-te-anau-to-dunedin\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Day 22 Te Anau to Dunedin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 13, 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Map: Day 22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We woke up to a cloudy day with some intermittent rain. It was a 3-hour and 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 was 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the driving around gave us 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 was the tour that allowed us to view the little blue penguins as they came ashore after dark each night and returned 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 had been completely sold out several months before. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tour made a few stops along the peninsula for some views and to see birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Otago Peninsula view<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rolling hills and pretty farmland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cabbage trees in the foreground are one of the few native trees in the area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Lime Kiln in the Sandymount area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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P\u016bkeko birds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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 liked wind). But we saw plenty of gulls. They were noisy and we saw gull poop everywhere<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The cliff where we looked for albatross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Many gulls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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