Dunedin November 28

 
Today's excursion was packed. Our first stop was at a bird sanctuary featuring Redbilled Gulls and Royal Northern Albatrosses. There were a bunch of each at the top of a hill after a ride much like O'Reilley's except the driver had much more experience than Phil. The birds were all sitting on their nests, but we really wanted to see the albatrosses in flight since we were told that they have a 15 foot wingspan. Unfortunately, all were content just sitting while we were at the bird sanctuary. The highlight, though, was that (using experience gained from the tour guide) our watching for the albatrosses when the ship pulled out of port and the winds picked up. Sheri was able to see them with binoculars and Phil got some on camera but probably from too far a distance.
 
Our second stop was at a private park where the owner provides a safe place for blue penguins and for seals and sea lions. We got to see some of the first two, but it was kind of boring as the birds and seals lazed around and there were no sea lions.
 
The final scheduled stop was at Larnoch castle - the only castle in the country. It wasn't really a castle as we think of them, but a big house built in the Victorian period. Nothing like Casa Loma, nor anything at all as some we'd seen in France, but the location was on a scenic hillside and the gardens were incredible. They did provide a good lunch as well.
 
The driver did drive us through the downtown district and stopped at Branson (?) street which is the steepest residential street in the world according to his report of what's in Ripley's. Just before we got back to the ship, our driver pointed out a wildfire that was burning on one of the hillsides. As the ship pulled out, we were entertained by the firefighting helicopters that had gigantic buckets swinging beneath them. They would fill the buckets with seawater from the bay, fly the short distance to the fire, and then dump the water. There were three of these operating at once in kind of a mesmerizing dance. It was fascinating!