Dunedin Food & Attractions : New Zealand Episode 9

If you haven’t read the previous episode yet, click here first.

1. Dunedin’s Famous Bagel Spot

People kept telling me there wasn’t much to see in Dunedin…

Seriously, who said that?! 😂

We started the morning nice and early,
heading out to grab some bagels.

One thing I quickly learned in New Zealand:

Finding free parking can sometimes be harder than finding the actual destination.

After circling around for a while,
we finally made it.

📍 Beam Me Up Bagels

🕒 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM (Open daily)

You order at the counter,
and they make the bagels fresh right in front of you.

We decided not to eat there, though.

Instead, we packed everything up and headed to Tunnel Beach.

Watching our bagels being made.

Bagels secured. Next stop: Tunnel Beach!

2. One of Dunedin’s Must-See Spots — Tunnel Beach

When we first started planning our New Zealand trip,
Tunnel Beach was closed for construction.

Then, by pure luck, it reopened in January 2026!

So naturally, we had to go ❤️🥰😘

The walk down is longer than it looks,

and the New Zealand sun is absolutely ruthless.

Sunglasses are basically mandatory.

(I got ridiculously tanned during this honeymoon…)

Walking down toward the beach.

One important thing:

Check the tide schedule before you visit.

At high tide, access is restricted!

While we were there,
the water was already starting to rise,
so we made sure to leave in time.

Kids were laughing and playing near the water,

and combined with the sound of the waves,

the whole place honestly felt like paradise.

We found a nice spot nearby,

spread out a mat,

and finally ate the bagels we had packed earlier.

They weren’t overly salty or heavy.

Just fresh, wholesome, and satisfying.

Also… they’re much bigger than they look.

I was way fuller than expected.

Of course, after enjoying ourselves,

we had to hike back up.

And wow…

That climb was brutal 😵‍💫

Little did I know,

our next destination involved an even steeper hill.

3. Baldwin Street — The World’s Steepest Residential Street

📍 Baldwin Street

This is known as the world’s steepest residential street.

On the way there,
someone apparently got distracted looking at the hill
and ended up causing a minor accident nearby.

Honestly… I get it.

It’s that steep.

In photos, it doesn’t look too bad.

You look at it and think,

“That doesn’t seem impossible.”

Then you start walking.

And immediately regret everything 😂

At one point, a car drove up the middle of the street,

and literally everyone stopped to watch.

The collective reaction was:

“Wait… can that car actually make it up there?”

The houses were fascinating too.

Because of the slope,

every home basically comes with an automatic basement level.

After a quick walk around,

we rewarded ourselves with some gelato

and headed back toward the accommodation.

4. Dunedin Railway Station

Later, we walked from our accommodation

to the famous Dunedin Railway Station.

📍 Dunedin Railway Station

From a distance,

the station looks beautiful with its well-maintained gardens.

Of course,

I spent some time taking photos of my wife too 📸

A happy husband has responsibilities.

5. Dinner at Biggies Pizza

Before our Blue Penguin Tour,

we had dinner at a restaurant we found through the First Table app.

📍 Biggies Pizza

🕒 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM (Wednesday–Sunday)

Most restaurants in New Zealand close surprisingly early,

so we didn’t eat out very often during the trip.

Dunedin was one of the few places where we actually managed to.

(My father-in-law specifically told me to make sure my wife ate lots of good food 😂)

Thanks to my wife,

we got a 50% discount through the app.

We ordered:

🍕 Pizza
🥗 Salad
🦑 Fried calamari

The pizza and salad were amazing.

The calamari itself was good too,

but the batter was incredibly salty.

So we basically peeled off the coating and ate the squid inside 🤪🤤

Even after all that food,

including drinks,

the total bill was under 30,000 KRW.

Amazing value.

6. The Albatross & Blue Penguin Tour

Finally…

The activity I had been looking forward to the most.

The Albatross & Blue Penguin Tour! 🐧

After seeing sea lions every single day,

I was more than ready to meet some penguins.

We had booked the tour in advance from Korea.

🕒 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM

A shuttle picked us up near the restaurant,

and we headed toward the tour site.

During the drive,

the guide explained all sorts of things.

Unfortunately…

it felt more like an English listening exam 😂

Our first-ever New Zealand fur seal.

We arrived at the same Albatross Centre we’d visited the day before.

At first, I honestly started wondering if I had wasted my money.

Was this a scam? 😂

Where were the penguins?

The albatrosses were hard to see,

and the only new thing was a distant seal.

Thankfully, they actually offer refunds if no penguins appear.

That gave me a little hope.

After about 30 minutes of educational talks

(with my wife acting as my translator),

it was finally time.

Penguin time.

At first,

we only spotted two tiny penguins.

Then suddenly…

more appeared.

And more.

And more.

And before we knew it,

an entire army of penguins was running toward shore.

Absolute chaos.

Absolute cuteness.

They were sprinting around in groups,

and every single person watching was saying the exact same thing:

“Oh my God.”

“So cute.”

No age groups.

No nationalities.

Everyone became the same person 😂

How could anyone resist?

Fully grown adults weigh only around 800 grams,

and stand about 60–80 cm tall.

Every photo on my phone,

every shot on my Insta360,

became penguin content.

During peak season,

around 200–250 penguins return each night.

Even though we visited outside the peak season,

we still saw roughly 120–130 penguins.

At that point,

I figured the tour had already paid for itself.

Even if each penguin was worth just 1,000 won 😂

Dunedin Blue Penguin Tour.

After the penguins finish returning to shore,

everyone heads back to the shuttle.

The best part?

If you tell them where you’re staying,

they’ll drop you off right in front of your accommodation.

Super convenient.

And honestly?

If you’re visiting Dunedin,

this is one experience I would absolutely recommend.

No hesitation.

Just book it 🐧❤️.

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