Thursday, April 10, 2008

Australasia day 9-10: Queenstown to Dunedin, the flight of the Albatross

After returning from Diving in the Milford Sound, I decided to make a lazy day out of being in Queenstown. This did of course include another visit to Fergberger. This time I had squid rings and a deer burger: "Lil Bambi was delicious" . I checked myself in to my hostel and met two of my roomates, Emma and Kelly, both British girls living in London. (Emma is on the right, Kelly on the left). I spent much of the day lounging around, doing laundry and convincing myself whether or not to go river boarding. In the end, I decided I was too cheap and tired and would go to Yoga instead.


I met back up with the ladies around 8:00pm and we went out to get Thai Food before heading over to the Buffalo Bar for drinks. Emma had what looked like was going to be a rewarding night and so Kelly and I headed back to the hostel around 3am. I woke up the next morning just with enough time to catch my bus to Dunedin.Dunedin used to be the largest city in New Zealand in the 19th Century and was founded by Scottish immigrants. Its the first city I saw brick. The picture above is the train station which sits right on the harbor. After arriving at the train station, I quickly booked myself a trip with monarch cruises. I choose the 2P: (Albatross & Penguins) includes a guided tour of Yellow Eyed Penguin Reserve for $120.00 NZD. Click on picture below for a video.


My goal was to see Northern Royal Albatross, blue penguins, terns, petrels, fur seals. In addition to this teeming wildlife I might also see other types of albatross, sea-lions, dolphins and whales while close offshore, flocks of Sooty Shearwaters feed among other shearwaters, mollymawks and many other pelagic species.







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