Best Western 555 On Bayview Dunedin

... me, gave me 3 little glasses of wine, and wine+sleeping pills = I was able to sleep for a couple hours. New Zealand- 1, US-0. Other than the length of the flight, it was really not a bad time. <br><br>I left Philadelphia at 4PM on July 4 and arrived in Dunedin at 9AM on July 6. There were a bunch of awkward American students on the same flight and we all stood around waiting for our taxi driver. Once loaded on the taxi, he dropped us off one-by ...

... and were greeted by a huge sleeping seal!! We finally reached Dunedin without any trouble (they had heavy snow a few days ago) and checked in the hostel. We originally wanted to have an early night but had a great night with the other people staying here. <br><br><br>22.05.09: We could not get out of bed this morning after the heavy might. We made it for ...

... we had an appointment to keep (The wildlife tour, remember? ;)) so we couldn't hang around to see if the weather would improve. In Portobello we were picked up by the tour and taken to the very tip of the peninsula where there is a royal albatross breeding colony. The tour guide informed us that if we were lucky we would be able to see the young birds that reside there practice their flying skills, but that, due to their size, these birds only fly in strong winds ...

... it was a fossil shell, bone fragment, or piece of wood. Arriving in Dunedin we had a bit of trouble finding the hotel. When we finally got on the right street it was a huge hill to climb. The car struggled, then made a funny noise as if we had a flat tire. Determined to climb the hill, then a second and third hill we finally parked and made our way into Brothers Boutique Hotel. After a call to the car rental company and ...

... sea lions at the bottom of the cliffs. <br><br>From Nugget Point we drove on to the Otago Peninsula since Dunedin didn't allow freedom camping. We camped in Portobello and drove to Pilots Beach in hopes of catching a glimpse of the much talked about albatross. We did see several amazingly large albatross The albatross were a beautiful sight and made typical seagulls look small. <br><br>

Hi and welcome to my first entry, I don't have much to say as yet other than to remind everyone that i am heading off to the following countries Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Bahrain, England. I am currently waiting for my UK visa and passport to come back :-s

... pronounced Lan-ark) Castle nearby. A castle on a small scale, more akin to a London Town House. The 1871 castle stands on the highest point on the peninsula and was once home to Merchant and politician William Lanarch. The history behind it is fascinating. Lanarch married, raised children, when wifey died he remarried much to the disapproval of his children who took an instant dislike to their new step-mother, who just so happened to be the sister of their mother ...

... chocolate being made everywhere and the place smelt accordingly. We landed ourselves a bag full of chocolate and then there was a discount Cadbury's shop. What an idea. I purchased a vat of hot chocolate, and yet more chocolate. I was feeling quite contented by this point and then we went to a further cafe, where I had a touch more chocolate. Then, I think we went to some train station and another museum. But I didn't really notice. I was eating.

We arrived on Wednesday, May 7th at about 9.20am in Dunedin. I was too tired to take pictures that day, but here are some of just visiting around town. Also, after 2 days, we contacted Century 21 (of all things) which happened to have a townhouse just up a hill from downtown (and the university). The "up a hill" part ensures that it will be ...

... with lots of cute pictures. I have finally started making better use of the video camera and I got quite a lot of footage of them. Today hasn't been quite as awkward as yesterday and it was definitely more family like. I have been able to tell them a lot about New Zealand and about the Maori history and cultures. I ate what was probably the nicest meal I have had since I started travelling - BBQ ribs! We also did some planning for our travel around NZ when we leave Dunedin tomorrow.