The ultimate experience – a 90 minute guided tour telling the story of the Northern Royal Albatross and the People history of Pukekura/Taiaroa Head.
This 90-minute fully-guided tour includes a short film, presentation on the albatross breeding cycle and a short walk up the hill for viewing from an exclusive glassed observatory to view the albatross and then continuing through the underground fort tunnels to see the fully restored Armstrong Disappearing Gun.
Learn about the exciting history. From a small Maori camp in the 1300s to a fortified Pa where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840; from a wooden flagstaff to an 1864 lighthouse at the entrance to Otago Harbour; from an 1880s underground fort to a large defence base in WWII. Taiaroa Head is today a Nature Reserve and iconic wildlife attraction.
- Visit the only mainland breeding colony of Northern Royal Albatross in the world.
- Learn fascinating insights into these majestic monarchs of the sea from our passionate and knowledgeable guides.
- Explore a hidden underground tunnel system underneath the albatross colony and view the world’s only fully restored Armstrong Disappearing gun
- Come into the exclusive observatory and have the chance to view these charismatic birds raising their young.
- On a breezy day, you may even see them fly by with their huge 3-metre wingspan – a sight you’ll always remember.
The Royal Albatross Centre is operated by the Otago Peninsula Trust, New Zealand’s first private charitable conservation trust. A proportion of every ticket sold at the centre goes directly towards the fostering and protection of the Northern Royal Albatross.
