33km from Dunedin on the tip of the Otago Peninsula is the Royal Albatross Centre, the only mainland breeding colony of Northern Royal Albatross in the world.
We feature in Lonely Planet's 2011 book 1000 Ultimate Sites alongside the Taj Mahal and the Grand Canyon: "Here at one of New Zealand's hottest attractions the drawcard is the birdlife. Taiaroa Head is the site of the world's only mainland royal albatross breeding ground, where you can observe the spectacle of albatrosses with wingspans of up to 3m coming in to land like a succession of 747s".
Taiaroa Head is a nature reserve managed by the Dept of Conservation; to protect the birds access to the colony is by guided tour only. We are open 364 days per year; for further details go to www.albatross.org.nz