Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand

Dunedin is a fun university town with lots of artsy inhabitants and history too.  It was first settled by the Scots – Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinburgh.  The city has lovely bluestone Victorian buildings in its town center and boasts a striking Edwardian railway station.  We spent practically an entire Sunday ambling through its botanic gardens dating from the 1860’s and spreading across 22 hectares.  We stopped along the way to have coffee and fresh baked scones in the garden café and then to watch young lassies perform the Scottish sword dance in the garden’s concert area.  Outside the city of Dunedin is the Otago Peninsula, home of the yellow-eyed and blue penguins.  We took the lovely windy drive out to the end of the peninsula where we sat and waited until nightfall to watch nearly 60 blue penguins swim ashore.