jonesie,
In the "olden" days many NZ families kept a few hens for their own fresh eggs (and, as we discovered at quite a young age, Sunday roast was a consideration as well!). The Happy Hens place has small round pottery hens and other farm-type mementoes, all brightly hand-painted and for sale, and is well-worth a visit. I have given several of the hens to friends both locally and overseas, and have one on my kitchen windowsill to remind me of my child-hood!

m planning to visit the Penguin Place and the Royal Albatross colony as well.

I had similar penguin-watching experience in melbourne, one need wait till the sunset and u would see the little pengines returning home group by group!

In order to make the last tour for the Penguin, think we better visit the Royal Albatross 1st and visit penguin on the way back!

Anyone knows what is the time for the last pengine tour?

Hi dhui. We're also visiting both. E-mail Shirley at the albatross centre at [email protected]. She helped us out with coordinating the times there and at Penguin Place and she made the reservations for both on our behalf. We'll be visiting in late December. (She also mentioned that had a small cafe where you could have dinner after the tours.)

thx for the contact, Sharon!
we will be going in mid-Dec.

Recommend in Dunedin the Classic Jacquar tour of the Otago Peninsula...you can personalize where you want to go from 1/2 to full day...we thoroughly enjoyed the unique experience suggested by Aunt as the one "Must Do" when we came to Dunedin. $170 cost for two of us included entrance and guided tour at Larnach Castle, Albatross, Taiaroa Head, Yellow-Eyed Penguin...

anybody knows if I can book for the penguin tour in advance? seems there's no such facility from their site.

Hi again dhui. You're right; there's no way to book directly with the penguin place on their site, you need to call. But if you do the albatross centre also, shirley from the centre will book the penguin tour as well. That's what she did for us. We asked her to figure out the best viewing times for each place and she e-mailed us back a couple of different options so that we could coordinate between the two.

Hi, I work at Penguin Place! Yes, this last week the babby penguins have been breaking out of their eggs. Some of these nest site are within 5 metres of the viewing hides and you can take pictures. Judging from the past few weeks, the last tour of the day as seen incredible viewing.

theheadysmiths-- I am interested in the Jaguar tour. Was the $170 for two people in US$? Looking at their website, http://www.classicjaguar.co.nz/Tours.htm , it is much more expensive than that. Also, is there the option of taking the sunset Penguin tour, or do they only go to the penguins during the day?
Thanks!

I'm sure the Classic Jaguar Tour is more expensive than that, so maybe you have seen the USDollar amount . . . they have just won a provincial award for their business.
Yellow-eyed Penguins cannot hunt for fish at night, so they have to be home before dark (unlike some other penguin species). However, the cooler temperatures in the evening (relative to daytime temperatures) result in more activity of the penguins. The last Penguin Place tour of the day at the moment is getting darkish, and this still allows great photos at the beginning of the tour . . . . and a great experiences all tour!