The Greenpeace ship is expected to anchor off Otago Peninsula today and dock at Port Chalmers about noon on Saturday.
Activist groups are organising a demonstration at Back Beach at noon on Saturday, objecting to the potential of oil and gas drilling in the Great South Basin. While
the Government banned new offshore oil and gas exploration licences in April, Austrian company OMV previously acquired a permit for work in the basin.
The next day the ship will hold a public open day. Oil Free Otago member Geoff Wigley said the event was about gathering people who were interested in "climate change resilience" or wanted to learn about it.
Greenpeace climate campaigner Kate Simcock said the ship was touring the country to celebrate the Government’s off-shore drilling ban and promote clean energy.
"We’re turning up to both recognise the part the community has played in the last eight years in achieving the big national win we’ve got, but also recognising the work we still have to keep doing."
The ship has also stopped in Auckland, Whangaparaoa, Napier, Wellington, Taranaki and Kaikoura.
It is a replica of the original, which was bombed in Auckland in 1985 by the French Secret Service.
