Oamaru to Otago : A Plethora of Penguins

Oamaru to Otago : a Plethora of Penguins

We left Nelson in the p0uring rain and had an interesting but not too scenic ride over the Lewis Pass to Hanmer Springs. I'm sure the view over the pass would have been fantastic if we could have seen it. We tried to take a bit of a bush hike but got drenched when we arrived, and really appreciated our hot springs dip, especially the 40 degree pool . We then headed to Oamaru and our favorite little blue penguins. We saw a couple of yellow eyed penguins just coming on to the beach after a long day of fishing ( but too far to take a photo) . These penguins are about 2 ft tall and extremely rare. That night we were treated to a show of little blue penguins. They swim up to 40 k all day searching for food and return at night to feed their young, who stay home in their burrows. At the time we were there, most of the young were old enough to have left their nests, but there were 2 young chicks, as big as the adult birds , that would wait and attack any adult that came by looking for food. I guess it was like any adolescent raiding the frig. It was quite comical to see these tiny penguins ( only 1 ft tall).
We weren't allowed to take photos so you will just have to take my word for it. The next day Griz posed with the blue penguin statue and we headed to Dunedin and viewed the famous train station and the octagon. Our next stop was our little batch on the sea on the Otago penninsula. We were able to see albatross adults feeding their chicks. The albatross is the world's largest bird with a wing span of 9 ft. The Otago penninsula is the only place in the world where they breed. Once they are adult size ( about 10 months old) , they fly away and circle the Antarctic Ocean, not returning to land for 3-5 years, when they return to breed and start the cycle again. They live about 60 years and can breed the whole time, one or two chicks per year. We then visited a farm where a local farmer has been working to protect the little yellow penguins. He builds nesting boxes and hides so we could watch them undisturbed. That night we saw 8 penguins come ashore and saw several up close.

We took a hike the next day on a wild and windy beach. The sand was blowing so hard, Griz wasn't looking when he jumped over a sand dune and almost landed on a 500 lb sea lion, which looked just like a big rock. Luckily he missed. The cliff views and beach walks were spectacular, even though it was a bit cold and rainy. As ususal , there were lots of sheep. We had a brief tour of Invercargill and the famous tower before heading off on the ferry to Stewart Island . More on that later...