Dunedin locals are spoilt by having an endless number of beaches to explore which are minutes away from the city centre which sometimes can be taken for granted.

Sometimes locals choose which beach to go depending what type of winds we have on the day. It is amazing to have on the same day some beaches sheltered from strong winds and some very exposed.

https://orokonui.nz

https://www.fantailtours.co.nz/orokonui-ecosanctuary-and-city-tour

We, Fantail Tours in Dunedin specialise in tailoring any type of tour in order to meet interests of our customers best. The most recent inquiry was rather unusual - to see as many cemeteries of the city as possible. First thing comes to one's mind, cemeteries are the last places we want to go, we subconsciously try to avoid them for as long as possible. Especially, while we are young and healthy.

Although, as soon as you step in any of old Dunedin Cemeteries, you realise there's so much history there, such rich heritage can be uncovered, all you see around connects you to the past. Dunedin cemeteries reflect important events like immigration, conflict over the land, discovery of gold. They tell the city's tragedies too.

In Dunedin Southern Cemetery rest Thomas Campbell family and their maids who tragically drowned while being shipped from Port Chalmers to Dunedin harbour. Thomas Campbell, his wife, five children (one of them was born during the journey on the ship) and 2 maids sailed safely all the way from United Kingdom to Port Chalmers, but failed to arrive in Dunedin as their ship drowned after colliding with a steam boat. Thomas traveled all the way to Port Chalmers as was appointed to become the first principal of Otago Boys High School.

You can see how various sections represent religion and immigration wave, There are Jewish, Chinese, Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic sections.

If you stop at Northern Cemetery, it is hard not to notice a miniature replica of the First Church of Otago - mausoleum of William Larnach, designed by the most prominent Dunedin architect - Robert Lawson. Further on, you come across a gravestone of Thomas Bracken - a famous poet, whose poem became one of the New Zealand's official anthems!

Even a tiny Broad Bay Cemetery has a story to tell about a first settler who with the rest of 240 passengers arrived on the second ship called Philip Laing in 1848 after the city's establishment.

Fo those who keen to read more about New Zealand Cemeteries, we recommend the book Unearthly Landscapes by Stephen Deed.

If you happen to go to Signal Hill on a sunny day you will be amazed by the most breathtaking views of Otago harbour, Peninsula and Dunedin city and its hilly suburbs. Standing on top of this hill the views invite you to imagine what happened there throughout the history of Dunedin. From the very first Maori tribes moving in and out depending not he weather conditions and food source, to today's events.

We very often hear from visitors of Dunedin that this little but great city exceeded their expectations. What rich heritage it offers, the landscape that was created by now extinct volcano 12-13 million years ago, to which is hard not to react and constantly repeat words like "beautiful, breathtaking, gorgeous, magic"etc.

And most importantly, Otago Peninsula is a sanctuary to unique wildlife: royal albatrosses, one of the rarest penguins in the world - yellow eyed penguins, little blue penguins, New Zealand fur seals, sea lions and variety of birds.

Lots of things have happened recently that affected locals and visitors of Dunedin. One of the most shocking ones was the unexpected closure of Cadbury chocolate factory followed by announcement of the new hospital project, to be the biggest development in New Zealand.

From the top of Signall Hill, far away in the distance, three steep parallel streets stand out - High Street, Rattray St and Stuart St, that's where Dunedin cable car lines were running from 1881 till 1957. Are we going to ride them in Dunedin again? Well, according the Cable Cars trust we should expect them back into city just in a few years. How exciting!

http://www.dunedincablecars.co.nz/index.html

If you have the time to wander, get lost, and explore Dunedin streets, you can notice the amazing hidden gems you only discover when you slow down and take your time.

If you have around 90 minutes time, you can grab a map of the trail and do a self guided walk. Experience vibrant, whimsical artworks by local and international artists on the Dunedin Street Art Trail. Artists include ROA (Belgium), Pixel Pancho (Italy), Phlegm (UK), Natalia Rak (Poland), Dal East (China), Mica Still (NZ) to name a few. Currently there are 30+ walls in the trail and this self-guided walk takes around 90 mins to complete.

For street art map please press here

Read more about the street art in Dunedin here

Extreme summer heat has destroyed albatross eggs at Taiaroa Head, leading to a 42% drop in hatched chicks this year.

Unusually high temperatures "detrimentally impacted" the breeding season of the northern royal albatross, and just over 50% of the 29 fertile eggs hatched.

Taiaroa Head — the world’s only mainland colony and a popular Otago Peninsula tourist attraction — had only 15 chicks, compared with 26 and 23 at the same time in the last two years respectively.

Weather conditions also increased the incidence of fly-strike after hatching, with seven chicks being affected, contributing to one mortality.

The colony could potentially recover next season, as the parents which did not raise chicks this year would try again rather than taking a year off, he said.

Weather conditions also increased the incidence of fly-strike after hatching, with seven chicks being affected, contributing to one mortality.

The Dunedin Botanic Garden will soon be the smelliest place in the city with the corpse plant (Amorphophallus titanum) starting to produce its first, very rare and very smelly bloom. But there’s no way to know when the flower will open. For most of its life, the plant regularly produces a single, compound leaf, the size of small tree.

In 2008 Dunedin Botanic garden received a golf ball- sized corm from a private collector. it weighed no more than 100g, the weight of an average banana.

It has taken since then to store enough energy to flower. Now, at maturity, the corm weighs about 32kg and is the size of a large beach ball!

Native to steamy jungles of western Sumatra, on steep hillsides, at 120 to 363m above sea level,known in its native Indonesia as corpse flower, is increasingly rare in the wild as a result of deforestation, pollution and farming. It is listed as vulnerable in the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.

The flower is one of the world's largest inflorescence, it is open for only about 48 to 72 hours!

I wonder how smelly it will be when it starts flowering.

Today our children brought a book from Dunedin public library. We all enjoyed this wonderful book called "Toroa's Journey" that was published last year, written by Maria Gill about our amazing Royal albatrosses at Taiaroa Head on Otago Peninsula.

Exciting news at Royal Albatross centre, Dunedin! The first chick has arrived! The chick is a healthy 290g and has had its important first feed from parent. The egg was laid on 7 November 2017 and since then the parents have been taking turns on the nest. They will now continue to take turns feeding the chick for the next five or six weeks. They then leave the chick unguarded, except for feeding visits, until it fledges in spring. The sex of the chick is unknown at this stage.

For the third year running DOC has set up a web cam beside an albatross nest in the colony near Dunedin – the only mainland albatross breeding colony in the Southern Hemisphere.

Royal cam has seen huge popularity over the last two years, totaling more than 2.3 million views on YouTube.

You can watch the albatross chick on http://www.doc.govt.nz/royalcam.

Historic homes, museums, art gallery

http://www.olveston.co.nz/ one hour guided tour to see historic home - Olveston house

http://www.larnachcastle.co.nz/ entrance applies to garden only or garden and castle for self guided tours

http://otagomuseum.nz/ free of charge

http://www.toituosm.com/ free of charge

http://www.dunedin.art.museum/ free of charge

http://www.otago.ac.nz/geology/about/museum/index.html free of charge

Wildlife

https://orokonui.nz/ http://www.albatross.org.nz/ http://www.wildlife.co.nz/ http://penguinplace.co.nz/ http://www.natureswonders.co.nz

Breweries

https://speights.co.nz/ 1.5 hour guided tours including beer tasting

https://emersons.co.nz/ guided tours including beer tasting

Chocolate

https://www.cadbury.co.nz/ one hour guided tour to learn all about Cadbury chocolate

Trains

http://www.dunedinrailways.co.nz/

a daily departure for 4 hour return train trip to Taieri Gorge

Departure on cruise ship days only for a 90 minute return coastal train trip

Gardens

http://www.dunedinbotanicgarden.co.nz/ free of charge

http://www.glenfalloch.co.nz/ https://www.dunedinchinesegarden.com/

Geology Museum contains large and scientifically important collections of rocks, minerals and fossils - the largest such collection in the South Island. There are displays in the Museum itself and in the adjacent foyer.

The Museum is open to the public five days a week, from 8.30 am to 5 pm.

If you visit the Geology Museum, you may look through large viewing windows to see fossils being worked on in the Fossil Preparation Laboratory (room Gs13a). The fossils include whales, dolphins, penguins, and fish.

Collections in the Museum are used by staff and students for research and in undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Definitely worth a visit!

Gorgeous rhododendrons!