Things To Do in Otago Peninsula Dunedin


A visit to Dunedin is not complete without taking a drive to Otago Peninsula and enjoy its natural beauty. If you are not on budget, you could also visit The Lanarch Castle claimed to be New Zealand's only castle. 

We drove two times to Otago Peninsula. First time at the evening to catch our blue penguins tour, and the second time was to enjoy Otago Peninsula because we couldn't see anything on the previous night. Although it was cloudy, we managed to capture some great pictures at Otago Peninsula.

The view of Dunedin City, from Otago Peninsula


What are the things to see and do at Otago Peninsula? We share our experience of the things we did at Otago Peninsula:


1. The Blue Penguins Pukekura Tour


Based on our previous experience of penguins viewing at St.Kilda Beach Melbourne, we wanted to take kiddos to see penguins at Otago Peninsula. I ended up booking a tour to see Blue Penguins Pukekura, as the family ticket price was affordable at NZD 50. The website is very simple yet interesting. It is mentioned in their web that visitors could see the birds returning each evening to the Pilot Beach. Yup, the tour is at dusk, but we didn't know it gets very cold, or other word freezing at the evening, even in summer.

It was one of the busiest day during our holiday in New Zealand. First of all we had to make our roadtrip from Te Anau to Dunedin, and spent additional two hours because of the transit at Nugget Point. We checked in at our motel, had dinner, then continued driving to Otago Peninsula. The tour started at 8.30 pm, it was raining when we left our motel. Kiddos fall asleep at the car just 10 minutes after we left the motel. Guess they were tired after our long day.

We made it on time and park our car at Royal Albatross Center. The rain had stopped, but it was windy and freezing outside. "Wake up, we are going to see the penguins!" I said to kiddos. They woke up, and I ensure they wear their jacket, hand gloves and head cover. We ran to the information center, and it felt so warm once we were inside.


The briefing to our group


After a short brief at the lobby, we were ready to walk to the viewing point. At the breifing we were advised to walk very carefully on the stairs from the information center to the viewing point platform, as the walkway gets very slippery after the rain. We made it to the platform, ooh gosh, it was freezing!

At the viewing platform


The first animal coming out of the sea was a seal, instead of penguins! Our guide told us that the penguins might come a little bit longer because they would probably avoid the seal. We waited in dark and cold, together with all the birds down there.

The birds were also waiting for the penguins

Until small groups of penguins came and they became a very large group. Wooow, look all those penguins!! They walked further through the grass field into their house. No one disturb them.

Finally, the penguins have arrived
One group of penguins heading to their house
One cute litlle penguin


After one hour at the viewing point, everyone went back to their car. The information center were closed, lucky that we had our toilet break before the tour:p

It was a very unique experience for us, especially for kiddos, a really recommended things to do in Otago Peninsula of Dunedin.



2. A Close Encounter With The Sheeps at Sandfly Bay


You may see lot and lots of sheep at Otago Peninsula, but we found one place called Sandfly Bay where we could walk with the sheeps in the same area!

Kiddos#2 with the sheep
Getting  a little bit closer with the sheeps


Other thing we enjoyed at Sandfly Bay was the spectacular view of the Otago Peninsula's coastline and cliff tops. We saw people went down to the beach from the viewing point. But we decided only to enjoy the view from the lookout and went back to our car.

It was an amazing view


3. Take Lots of Pictures!


I forget how many stops we made at Otago Peninsula to take pictures. For sure it was more than 10 times:p The view was just so incredible that we couldn't stop taking pictures!

Imagine having a house in this beautiful place:)
Sheeps were everywhere
Ray of light, and the sheeps


Our last stop was to catch the sunset, although it was covered by a hill. By the way it was our last sunset of year 2013. We were lucky to enjoy this beautiful sunset on 31 Dec 2013.

Sunset at Otago Peninsula


Those were the things we had done when we visited Otago Peninsula. We would love to visit it over and over again. If only we had more days to spend in Dunedin.


written on March 2, 2014 by @tesyasblog


Tag: melihat penguin di New Zealand, jalan-jalan ke Otago Peninsula, Liburan ke Dunedin
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6 comments:

  1. lucu banget pinguin nya :-)

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    1. Iya Kak Cumi kecil banget tapinya...hehe..

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  2. akkkhhh, lucuuu kak tes, pemandangan juga keren :))))

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  3. waaah kapan yah bisa ajak anak2 ksana..indah bgt tempatnya :D

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    1. Hai Ronal, kami juga dulu nya mimpi aja kok ke tempat-tempat ini. Kan travel begins with a dream ya hehe..

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