Monday, April 4th
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| Pukeko- a native NZ bird |
For their final excursion, my parents and I decided to take a tour of the Otago Peninsula to get a closer look at some of the wildlife right around Dunedin. It was unfortunately (though not at all surprisingly) lightly raining as we waited for the tour bus to pick us up from the hotel at which my parents were staying but the tour promised to run rain or shine; the animals don’t care about getting wet! It was a small tour, which was nice because we got a lot of great information and were able to go to a couple of privately owned locations to view the animals.
On the way out to the tip of the peninsula our guides talked to us and showed us many of the native birds, which were actually the only species native to New Zealand before its colonisation. Since humans began to settle the country, the number of native bird species has dropped by an incredibly large amount, due to the introduction of predators such as ferrets, dogs, and cats. This introduction was obviously very detrimental and some of the birds which have survived are so unique, with bright colours and odd little shapes that it makes me wonder about those which didn’t survive. The first official stop was at the Albatross Museum, where we were taken to the viewing station for the young albatross chicks. Albatross apparently need wind to fly up from the sea to feed their chicks, which looked remarkably like big white cotton balls and didn’t move a centimetre while we were up there, so we didn’t get to see any since there wasn’t much wind yet. They did have a lot of interesting information, though, and some life-size and weight albatross chick stuffed animals. Man those “little” guys are heavy!
After the rather disappointing lack of albatross sightings, we carried on to a privately owned farm, to which our tour company had purchased exclusive access. In New Zealand, farm most often means lots of sheep, which always means lots of sheep excrement, which we had the pleasure of trekking through (more like tip toeing and jumping from one relatively safe patch to the next). A true kiwi experience J Down the slippery slope we went until we reached an outcropping of rocks overlooking the oceans and the biggest pod of seals that I’ve seen yet! At first they’re hard to spot, but once you see one it’s as if they’re popping up out of the rocks left and right and, looking down, there were a couple babies right up close! Many were, in what I’ve come to think of as typical seal fashion, lazing about on the rocks looking more dead than alive, but there were a couple groups who were having a grand ol’ time splashing about in the tidal pools. There was a small group which was especially entertaining, as they had managed to get a hold of one of the huge pieces of seaweed which cover the NZ coast and were playing a rousing game of tug-o-war with it.
It was so mesmerising being able to watch such a happy little group in their natural habitat but the cold soon caught up to us when we stopped moving and I was ready to get going again when our guide told us it was time for the hike back up the hill. We traversed the hill and carried on down the other side, this time on a gravel path which made it easier to spot and avoid the sheep droppings. When we were almost to the bottom we noticed that everyone in front of us had stopped and were pointing at something just off the path. There was a little yellow-eyed penguin only about 2 metres from the trail! With perfect timing, he must have just waddled up from shore and obliged us by stopping to preen on the way to his nest farther inland. Though I knew we’d be getting close to the wildlife, I never imagined that we would be this close! After quite a few photos had been taken, we continued on down to the beach and our next big (literally) encounter.
Sealions. Aptly named for their size and the bushy fur which surrounds the necks of the older males, these “boys” as our guide called them also roar and fight in a manner reminiscent of African counterparts. Though we were told that this fighting is really just playing, it certainly didn’t look like it from where I was standing, which was uncomfortably close to the action. The situation was made even more unnerving as we realized that the group of six or so “playing” male sea lions were slowly moving their rowdiness closer to our group of 10 rather anxious humans, who got laughed at by the guide for backing up and not wanting to join in the fun. Now, if you ask me, backing up seems like the logical reaction when being creeped up on by beasts multiple times bigger than yourself who are reported to run at 20 kph when motivated. However, we were told that we were safe as long as we were prepared to run for the beach if instructed. The hills, in this case, were not a safe option for retreat as there were more sea lions resting in the long grass who would be rather upset if they were stepped on mid-retreat. Excellent. Though my sense of adventure is keen for jumping off bridges, running from rampant beasts is a bit of an extension so, though it was a completely new experience which I’m glad I was able to have, I can’t say that I was too disappointed when we moved farther down the beach to observe the much smaller and less threatening penguin colony.
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| Our fearless leader with his "boys"! |
Early fall (March-May, here in the southern hemisphere) is moulting time for penguins, so we were lucky to see many very close to the little hut under which we huddled to avoid the ever-continuing mist. I’d seen a couple penguins come ashore in the Catlins, but we were so close (at most 200 metres) to the shore this time that it was like seeing it for the first time again! Someone would see a black shape surfing up on the waves and then we would all watch as it made its waddling way up the beach, stopping every so often to cool off by flapping out its wings and stretching out its neck, the perfect pose for a picture! There were also a few penguins already up in the hills, right next to their friends the sheep! Only in New Zealand will you be able to get a picture of sea lions, penguins, and sheep all at the same time. It was so funny to watch, it looked like one of the sheep was having a face-off with the penguin, who was intruding on his private grazing ground. The penguins and the sheep appeared to coexist peacefully enough, though we were told that if a sheep got too close it might get a wee slap with a flipper. Now that would be a sight!
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| Sheep vs. Penguin (the tiny little guys in the bottom right corner) |
A few more minutes watching the penguins hopping up the shore and a couple waddling away together to their nest (penguins mate for life, and supposedly wait for their mate on shore before heading home for the night, aww) it was time to end the tour and we made our way back past the “boys” and up the hill to the van. Even though the rain made it a bit more uncomfortable than would have been preferred, if you let the weather stop you when living in Dunedin you won’t ever do anything! Back at the hotel, we had a last supper of pizza (always a family favourite!) and exchanged pictures from our many adventures. The next morning, bright and early, my parents came over to my flat and I made a breakfast of French toast to send them off on their long journey home. It was really sad to say good bye, but I’m so glad that they got to come visit and experience some of New Zealand for themselves! I’m sure we’ll be talking about it for years and hopefully we can find another adventure (or two) to have together in the future J
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