Dunedin Part 1

Arriving in Dunedin! At the start of our drive along the Otago Peninsula.

Larnach Castle- New Zealand's only castle

At the top of the castle- at this point Mei decided to become a puppy.

And now Mina and Mei are both puppies (posing in front of the castle tower):

The tower's spiral staircase

Another photo- the front of the castle:

We took a brief walk through the castle gardens...girls were more fascinated by the Alice in Wonderland "decor" and wanted a photo (nice poses, right?!):

Taiaroa Head- we found seals!

This seal is kind of camouflaged...

The Royal Albatross Centre is at Taiaroa Head (the very tip of Otago Peninsula)...it was very windy here. But apparently the albatross love it and there were lots of them flying all around us. It was really cool seeing an albatross in the wild.

After seeing the albatross, it was time to go to Penguin Place for a penguin tour. We booked a tour just before dusk as it's supposedly when you get the best penguin sightings (b/c you can see them get out of the water and waddle back home). Otago Peninsula is home to the rarest penguin in the world...the yellow-eyed penguin. Um, and it's so stinking cute. This one was waddling back from the ocean, heading home to its family.

It's hard to see...but if you look closely you can see penguins on the beach.

A baby yellow-eyed penguin...so fluffy! And oddly enough, we learned that babies don't have yellow eyes...it's not until they're older that their eyes turn yellow!