Dunedin's founders were Scottish ('Dunedin' is Celtic for 'Edinburgh according to 'Lonely Planet') and they do have a statue of Robert Burns overlooking the city centre. It is also supposed to resemble Edinburgh because of the Victorian architecture but not having been there myself I wouldn't know but Ray says it does have some similarities. There again that could be something to do with the fact that we sat in Dunedin Railway Station cafe today (not your normal station caf) and they had a whole library of imported Scottish whiskies, of which Ray sampled a few. No wonder he thought it resembled Edinburgh!!

Our reason for being at the station was that we took a four-hour return trip to Pukerangi on the Taieri Gorge Railway, travelling through narrow tunnels, deep gorges, winding tracks, rugged canyons and more than a dozen viaduct crossings. The train follows the old gold mining trail and once the gold rush was over in the late 1800s provided transportation and communication for the remote farmlands. Once again the building of roads made the old forms of transport redundant but now revived to attract the tourist industry. An enjoyable trip all the same and each carriage had an open platform at the back making you feel like you were in an old cowboy film instead of just admiring the scenery.

Apart from having the world's steepest street, a Cadbury's factory and Speight's brewery (which we sample enough without going on a tour), Dunedin is home to the Otago Peninsula reported as being a haven for yellow-eyed penguins, fur seals and the royal albatross. The only one we managed to see was the royal albatross, but we saw a few. It is the wrong time of year to catch sight of the adult birds but there is a sanctuary here and from a viewing platform we were able to see the chicks, by now quite large (6 to 9 kilos) as they are 6 months old and should be fleeing the nest in the next few weeks. We were lucky enough to see a couple practising their flying skills - their wing span is huge. Another sight on this trip we consider a privilege to have seen as this is the world's only mainland royal albatross colony.

Heading north tomorrow towards Christchurch.

Jen and Ray