Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand

Dunedin is on the South Island, on the southeastern coast. It was established in 1848, by people from Scotland who were trying to get away from the harsh beliefs of their Presbyterian church in Scotland. The leader who brought them to New Zealand was Reverend Chalmers. They were looking for 5 things in the land: fresh water, coal and lime, good soil, a good port and 7 hills. These requirements were based on the fact that they wanted to have a place that reminded them of where they were leaving and that was Edinburgh. They were able to purchase 14,000 acres for 1 cent an acre from the native Māori.

The people were promised free health care and free education and that promise has been kept to current times. The cost to come was 17 pounds a person. The first ship arrived on March 27, 1848. Dunedin did not become a city until 1865 and had a great inflow of people in 1861 because of the discovery of gold in the area.

The first medical school was here and until 1969 was the only one in New Zealand. They also have the only dental school in the country. The University of Otago is here with about 22,000 students. It is one of the prime industries in this city. There is a lot of street art in the city but no graffiti. In olden days they built locomotives here and there is a big rail museum.

The first ship actually had a pre-fab school house in the hold. Currently, if you graduate from college here, the government will pay the costs of your last year which is about $15,000NZD. Of the total student population 88% are not local, and 12% are not from New Zealand.

Our guide told us that this area is the wildlife capital of New Zealand with seals, sea lions, blue penguins, yellow eyed penguins, sea gulls, albatross, black swans, oyster catchers to name only a few.

There is only one tribe of Māori on the South Island. Our objective was to see the Royal Albatross. After eggs are laid they are incubated for 80 days with both the male and female on the nest alternatively. Most times one is on the nest for 3 or 4 days while the mate is out searching for food. Then that bird comes back and takes over the nest and the other bird goes off to feed.

It actually takes about 5 days for the baby bird to hatch. They fledge after 7.5 months. These birds only lay 1 egg every two years. The birds return to mate to where they were born and they mate for life. Once the birds fledge they fly to Chile and stay there for approximately 5 years to mature. When they are 5 or so, they return to New Zealand to mate and reproduce. The average breeding age is 7.

We were at a conservation center where they have protected bluffs for the birds to nest. We were in a small glass blind and were able to observe about 8 birds on nests. The other birds were over the cliff edge or farther away and we could not observe them. There is a set of islands off the coast, farther south, Chatham Islands and there are about 25,000 nesting pairs there.

After our time at the albatross center we headed to Larnach Castle. The story about the family who built it was interesting to hear, but way too complicated to write. Here is a link to the history if you are interested.

https://www.larnachcastle.co.nz/about-us/history

We had a tour of the first floor of the castle, really a very large home and then lunch in the Ballroom Cafe. The house took 3 years to build and sits on 1,000 acres of land which was purchased by William Larnach for 1 shilling an acre. The house was built for his wife, Eliza. It was very far from the town of Dunedin, taking 4 hours round trip in the late 1800s when the family lived there. Mr. Larnach was a banker, then a shipping company owner and finally a politician becoming the Treasurer of New Zealand. Unfortunately his business ventures did not work out well and he went bankrupt and killed himself.

The house was very ornately decorated with all the wood hand carved and unique. The gardens around the house were very nice as well.

When we sailed away we were able to see the albatross sanctuary from the water. Not sure if the bird I photographed was an albatross or not.