when we left queenstown this morning i put two bags into storage at the hostel. got to travel lighter as we will be doing a couple of hikes. now we're doing the bottom bus which is operated by deep south adventures. we had a breakfast stop in cromwell, not very exciting. we stopped to look at clyde dam over by man-made lake dunstan.

clyde dam

i slept for most of the way due to the sun being in my eyes but i did manage to finish reading "bonfire of the vanities". we arrived in dunedin and dropped off our things at hogwartz hostel. there's nothing even close to anything harry potter-ish about, very disappointing. a few minutes later we were back on the bottom bus for a visit to natures wonders naturally over on the otago peninsula, close to taiaroa head. they give wildlife tours to see new zealand fur seals and yellow-eyed penguins.

nz fur seals

beach where the penguins gather

a yellow-eyed penguin

we only got to see 1 penguin and from very far away. however we did get to see many seals and quite close up. we were in these little shelters that had windows without glass. the seals don't seem to mind a bunch of heads staring at them whereas the penguins can't stand humans so you have to use binoculars to even tell what kind of penguin it is.

we rode around in agro cars which are like souped up golf cars. very uncomfortable. another girl was wearing the same jacket as twiddle thumbs so they chatted away with some small talk. turns out she's mexican from guadalajara. on the way back we stopped for a minute to catch a glimpse of royal albatrosses flying. absolutely huge wingspan of around 3m. we only saw them from a distance. as soon as i got back on the bus, one flew directly overhead. just my luck.

royal albatrosses flying in the distance

after all the animals and nature, we went to see something man-made: baldwin street, the world's steepest street as recorded by the guinness book of world records in 1997. it didn't seem that different from many streets i've experienced in santa cruz and san francisco so i didn't bother walking all the way to the top.

bottom of baldwin street

close to top of baldwin street