If Day 20 was all mist and mystery, Day 21 was pure magic sunshine, feathers, flowers, and a late-night show we’ll never forget.
We kicked off the morning at Dunedin Botanic Gardens, and it instantly became one of our favourite green spaces of the whole trip. The girls were in their element feeding ducks while I ended up with a couple of very confident pigeons hitching a ride on my backpack. Classic Dunedin hospitality.
From there, we wandered through the gardens and followed the Volcano Trail all the way to the top. It’s not a hard climb, but it feels like you’ve earned the view. The city spread out below us, framed by harbour blues and rolling green hills. We found a sunny patch for lunch, surrounded by rhododendrons the size of small trees crimson, pink, yellow, and every shade in between.
Ali pointed out the different blooms while Georgia tried to figure out where we were on the map, and Dotty picked the biggest daisies. It was one of those slow family mornings that make you forget the rush of travel.
After lunch we popped into Otago Museum, which turned out to be an absolute marvel part natural history, part science wonderland, part nostalgic time machine. The girls loved the old trams and fire engines, especially the Pride of Dunedin, and Georgia couldn’t resist climbing aboard the Roslyn Tram, pretending to be the driver ringing an invisible bell.
By evening, we could’ve called it a day. But Dunedin had one last surprise for us.
We joined the Blue Penguin Tour a two-hour adventure that starts at dusk, when these tiny ocean wanderers return home after a full day at sea. Georgia and I bundled up and followed the group down a boardwalk as the last light faded. The air was cold, the waves soft against the rocks, and then there they were.
In the end 248 of little blue penguins appeared from the surf, wobbling up the beach like miniature soldiers, feathers slick with salt water. We watched in complete silence, barely breathing, as they shuffled past under the red glow of the boardwalk. It was mesmerising.
By the time we got back, it was 11pm, and we were absolutely wiped out. The kind of tired that only comes from a day lived properly .
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