Heather Hapeta lives in Aotearoa-New Zealand: real travel, real adventures, real stories, real photos. Recent destinations Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan and Hong Kong – now NZ destinations due to COVID travel restrictions
As well as the albatross nesting on Taiaroa Head ( Royal Albatross Centre) the area is also home to the world’s only working Armstrong Disappearing Gun.
I had no idea what a ‘disappearing gun’ was, but it seems it got its name by recoiling back into the pit by the force of the firing of it.
As well as seeing the gun in its underground circular pit I was also a good place to see other albatross nests that are unseen from the observation room I’d been in earlier. ( see more on my blog)
Facts for you gun enthusiasts:
1886 manufactured in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
1889 installed in Otago
6-inch breechloading gun on a hydro-pneumatic carriage
weight 18.6 ton
range *km ( 8,800 yards)
So, if you are a gun or history buff make sure you add the Fort Tour to your bird watching!
Otago Peninsula was a volcano some 10 or 13 million years ago – give or take a week or three!
65-thousand years ago it became an island when sea levels rose and, more recently, it became a peninsula. Captain Cook and the hardy self-sufficient pioneers fought battles with the elements along the notorious 2000 kilometres coastline which is now scattered with shipwrecks.
The area is not just a day trip from Dunedin but a destination in its own right and during my ten days in Dunedin – traveling in a car from NZ RentaCar – and I spent time inNgaio Cottage in Broad Bay.
This cottage, built in the 1930s, when my hosts, Julz Asher & Lutz Ritter, bought it I’m told ‘it looked very different’ to the charming, well-appointed accommodation it is today. ‘It was unlivable. In fact, everything is new – except a few boards,’ Lutz said.
The fittings and furniture were chosen with care, resulting in beautiful and tasteful atmosphere. I have no idea how many stars this place has, but I’d give it 4 or 5!
This is a fabulous place to stay and use as a base to explore the peninsula, and the Dunedin region – check out these photos.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
I’m not the only one who rates Otago Peninsula:
Neville Peat a local nature writer based in Broad Bay says the whole area is a ‘kind of supermarket for marine life, souped up by currents and adjacent deep-water canyons.
Botanist and environmentalist David Bellamy said the peninsula is ‘the finest example of ecotourism in the world’ while Mark Carwardine, zoologist and outspoken conservationist, writer, TV and radio presenter, wildlife photographer, columnist, best-selling author, a wildlife tour operator calls New Zealand a “wildlife hotspot”. He also says it’s one of the best places in the world to see great wildlife and recently he was on a whirlwind tour, searching for our equivalent to Africa’s ‘big five’, the New Zealand ‘small five’ – all endangered species: hector’s dolphin; kea, kiwi, tuatara, yellow-eyed penguin all which are found on or around this amazing outcrop of land.
John Noakes, the bus stop artist of Dunedin, New Zealand started the idea of painting bus shelters after seeing children hiding from the rain in dark bus stops. He painted about 65 of them – a fine legacy and makes for attractive driving along, and around, the Otago Peninsula.
The New Zealand rental car company I used around Dunedin was New Zealand Rent A Car (branches all over NZ)
Dunedin, New Zealand: setting the scene for a series of blogs about attractions in the area including ‘the peninsula’, the ‘ finest example of eco-tourism.’
Otago Peninsula was a volcano some 10 or 13 million years ago – give or take a week or two.
65 thousand years ago it became an island when sea levels rose and, more recently, now a peninsula, Captain Cook and the hardy self-sufficient pioneers fought battles along the notorious 2000 kilometres coastline which is now scattered with shipwrecks.
With an annual rainfall of 700/800 millimetres and mists that roll in from the sea it now has 5% of the area covered in bush: mainly broadleaf trees and kanaka.
Neville Peat a local nature writer based in Broad Bay says the area is a ‘kind of supermarket for marine life, souped up by currents and adjacent deep-water canyons. The accolades continue.
Botanist and environmentalist David Bellamy said the peninsula is ‘the finest example of ecotourism in the world’ while Mark Carwardine, zoologist and outspoken conservationist, writer, TV and radio presenter, wildlife photographer, columnist, best-selling author, a wildlife tour operator calls New Zealand a “wildlife hotspot”.
He says it’s one of the best places in the world to see great wildlife and recently he was on a whirlwind tour, searching for our equivalent to Africa’s ‘big five’, the New Zealand ‘small five’ endangered species: hector’s dolphin; kea, kiwi, tuatara, yellow-eyed penguin .. all found on or around this amazing outcrop of land.
This area is not just a day trip from Dunedin but a place to base yourself – a destination in its own right.
Kiwi Travel Writer talks food, travel, and tips 