Today was our first port of call. Discovery Princess docked at Port Chalmers right on time, but we had only an hour to spare before our excursion started. Because it was a privately booked Viator tour, we needed to get off quickly, join the shuttle into Dunedin and make sure we weren’t late. The shuttle took about 20 minutes, and while everything ran smoothly, it’s always a small gamble booking independently. Viator usually offers the same style of tours as the cruise line but at a much lower price. The trade-off is that if something runs late, the ship won’t wait for you. Thankfully, today everything lined up perfectly. We met our guide, Kellie, with time to spare.
The tour we booked was The Wild One, a small-group trip focusing on wildlife around the Otago Peninsula. Once we met Kellie and the other guests, we set off in a comfortable van for the 90-minute drive to Cape Saunders Farm. Along the way we stopped by an inlet to do a bit of birdwatching. Kellie was fantastic. She had an eagle eye for spotting birds while driving, and she’d pull over so we could see them too. As usual, with my eyesight I didn’t have much luck picking out the ones on the water or in flight, but I managed to catch a few on the roadside. Mardi had better success with binoculars and could follow Kellie’s directions.
As we drove, Kellie told us about New Zealand’s geological history and how European settlement changed the landscape dramatically, replacing native grasslands and scrub with English pastures and imported trees. It was a good primer for what lay ahead.
Our first major stop was a fur seal colony. It was incredible to see so many seals in their natural habitat. Large males lounged on the rocks, pups as young as a week old nursed or played in the shallows, and the constant soundtrack of crashing waves and squawking gulls surrounded us. We even watched a female square up to a big male, which Kellie explained was likely part of the mating process. I used my phone to zoom in and capture photos, which helped me see the details more clearly. The whole scene felt raw and alive.
Next we walked down to a nearby beach to see sea lions. We were lucky to spot about half a dozen, each weighing somewhere between 300 and 400 kilos. They looked completely relaxed, stretched out along the sand. Kellie said they spend up to 18 hours a day diving and feeding, then haul up onto the beach to rest for 6 to 8 hours before heading back out. She also explained that sea lions are curious and generally harmless. They don’t see humans as a threat. As we left, a large male began to follow us, so Kellie told us to be as boring and uninteresting as possible so he’d lose interest. It worked.
After the sea lions, we climbed a steep hill and entered a hide overlooking a protected nesting area for yellow-eyed penguins. This part of the tour was moving and sad. There are only about 300 of these penguins left in the world. They’re one of the rarest penguin species, and their solitary nature works against them. They don’t nest in groups or form large colonies like other penguins, which makes breeding success lower and makes them more vulnerable to disease and predators. We were lucky to see three: one grooming itself on the hillside, one in a nesting box with a chick, and a third slowly making its way up from the beach after hours at sea. They looked lonely, but for yellow-eyed penguins, that’s normal. Still, it was sobering to think that they could disappear within my lifetime unless conservation efforts succeed.
With the wildlife viewing complete, we made our way back to Dunedin and then onto the shuttle for the 90-minute drive back to Port Chalmers. Before boarding we stopped at a local supermarket to grab a few snacks for the room. The day had been full, and some of the walks were incredibly steep with long staircases leading to various vantage points. By the time we returned to the ship we were worn out, grateful for the saying: take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints.
We rested in our room for a couple of hours before heading to Sabatini’s for dinner. I had a hot and spicy pizza, Mardi enjoyed a mushroom risotto, and we shared a charcuterie plate to start. We thought about going to trivia or catching a late show, but tiredness won out. Tomorrow is a sea day, and those are always welcome. Time to rest, reset and enjoy the slower pace.
