We fly into Christchurch at 2:50 PM from Sydney next October. Driving the 4-5 hours to Dunedin, where should we stop for dinner along the way?

We will have two nights and one full day in Dunedin. Should we stay in a specific part of town? The Hyland House looks interesting-- it's near Botanic Gardens and the University (is that better than the central business district?) We are not interested in the motel concept although the new Motel on York looks ok because it's new--very close to the Hyland House. We are very noise sensitive and are concerned about traffic at night. Coming from the Four Seasons in Sydney, staying in a generic motel/hotel will be extremely disappointing. We would prefer a hotel to a fussy frou-frou Victorian Mansion/B&B. Bed quality is very important and well as soundproofing. I fear we have too many criteria for what Dunedin has to offer!

We will be in the city during the spring Rhododendron festival at the end of Oct, 2006. We are interested in seeing the flowers but not everyone in our group (2 couples) would be interested in tours.

The Albatross Center mentions on the website that Oct/Nov is mating/breeding season so they do not offer tours. Too bad but perhaps if we drive by on the way to the Penguin Place we can see some?

Should we take an organized wildlife tour to maximize our time? I doubt that we can cram in the brewery and chocolate tours. Please help me organize one day itinerary to include some of the "must sees". Thanks so much for your ideas.

Corstorphine House, corstorphine.co.nz.

They hosted some events associate with the Rhododendron Fetival if I remember correctly, so you would need to reserve far ahead.

I think closer to the Botanic Gardens is better if you are interested in the festival and Otago Peninsula.

They have gardens open for self-guided visits during the festival, so you don't need to go on a specific tour.

Richard, keep in mind that the wildlife tours do not start til late in the afternoon when the penguins are coming home for the night. SO you have all morning and a good part of the afternoon to do other things. I did the chocolate tour first thing in the morning and still had lots of time before my wildlife tour.

Do you think the Elmwildlife Tour is the best? If we go to the Penguin Place on our own, will we see the same thing? The Alabatross Center will not be open during breeding season which is during our visit.

Richard,
I can't say if Elm Wildlife is the best, but it is the one that I decided on and I was not at all disappointed. I've read good things about Penguin Place, but I wanted something in a more natural setting. Elm Wildlife took us to private property and we were very close to the penguins without interfering with them. The guide was excellent at explaining everything. We also saw lots of sea lions.
I'm not sure if Penguin Place has a guide to explain everything , or whether it's self guided. Perhaps someone can answer that.

I can highly recommend Elm Wildlife though.

Richard...drive out to the point where the albatross exhibit is and you can see them flying off the headland..you will also see seals down on the beach.

As for Penguin Place...when we went on the sunset tour in Jan a few years ago it was excellent..really had to be the best wildlife exhibit I had ever been on.

An excellent review of penguin species and behaiour and then down to the beach to series of hides to observe the birds.Let me tell you..the sight and smell of a penguin regurgitating fish to feed its young from a hide 3 metres away was fantastic.