Alternative Route
Instead of driving through the Mt. Cook region by way of Tekapo, we are traveling along the east coast through Dunedin and Oamaru towards Christchurch. Contrast to the west coast, the east coast is mostly flat plains.
Albatross and blue penguin
As we did not have much information about Dunedin, the first thing was to visit the i-SITE to get some information. The only question my wife asked was “Where can we see wild animals?” and we were pointed towards the Otago Peninsula. We visited the Royal Albatross Centre and went down the beach to find the cutest penguin in the world.
Moeraki Boulders
Continue north from Dunedin we arrived at the Moeraki beach in the afternoon. It is another amazing sight showcasing the wonder of a geological event. A boulder would take million years to form and another tens of millions of year for geological process to expose it to the surface.
Oamaru
Last stop for the day was Oamaru. We were too late for the evening viewing of Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. We walked around the area taking in the scene as we would not be here tomorrow night. As we were leaving, we saw a big crowd gathering around the parking lot; and it was a lone blue penguin waddling across the parking lot trying to get back to its nest.