Elm Wildlife Tours, Dunedin

To put this in context, this was our first big holiday with our son that required him to be engaged in what was going on. He’s 5, and gets fidgety if he isn’t sufficiently interested in something. Our trip lasted several hours and included picturesque drives, walks and a fairly involved boat ride, and I’ll remember each of those with great fondness. The structure of the trip is very simple, and the staff are extremely knowledgeable, engaged and personable. The terrain is reminiscent of the Scottish countryside and in winter I imagine this would remind one of the Central European alps. With almost zero flat terrain driving, the views outside were unbelievable - complemented by the depth of knowledge (and wit) about the area down by the gentleman who drove us. We went to see albatross after that- flying in and out of their nests off the mountains by the sea while sea lions were leisurely taking in their much needed late afternoon naps - a scene straight out of Discovery Channel. At the penguin sanctuary, it warmed my heart to see that the whole tour was designed with the conservation of these animals in mind - we were told what animals we were seeing and why it was important to give them space etc. My favorite part was walking through the trenches to go see the penguins. And we actually did manage to, which is generally dependent on multiple variables, none of which was in our control. This tour was an absolute delight and having a tour guide like Mike made it even more enjoyable-he kept giving us small info about animals and other important landmarks etc and had a very good sense of humor. Thanks to Tim, Nigel and the rest of the staff at the boat too, they went above and beyond to make it an enjoyable trip for all of us. And my five year old was engaged throughout the entire 7 hours - unless he was hungry of course! Pack your snacks.

Good impression about the local wild life and what effort is to keep the native nature and wild life settled. Lovely landscape and had good luck to see sea lions, penguins and royal albatross. Try it out yourself if you want to learn more I liked it very much