erin, etc.

With our last few days of freedom before heading back to the states, and work we headed up to the Far North or North North…all the way to Cape Reinga and back down to Auckland. Check out Justin’s crazy 4-wheel photo

From Road Trip & Far North

Last day of work! We’re headed north for the next few days. If the weather is good, we hope to do Tongariro Crossing and then explore the far North. We’ll likely be without any real good internet the next few days but I’ll try to get up some pics as we go…one more week till we’re back in the states!

Spent the day checking out cool art and hanging in downtown Christchurch…after FINALLY sleeping in late! We were surprised by an actual Gypsy fair being held in a random park. This was totally crazy- they live in the best vehicle/RV/homes on wheels, like a crazy wooden dollhouse built around old school buses…photos coming soon…

Left Otago and headed North towards Christchurch. We headed along the coast, stopping in Dunedin, risking a parking ticket for a free art museum and some yummy kebabs. Took a long drive up the coast, stopping to check out the Moeraki Boulders and getting a sweet double twin room (that I’m pretty sure had bed bugs) in an old converted hotel turned backpackers in Oamaru. Justin had had enough tourist attractions for the day but I couldn’t give up another chance to see penguins, this time little blues or fairy penguins. I paid the $20 and sat in stadium seating with 300 other people to watch these little tiny penguins come ashore in the dark and waddle back to their nests. The Oamaru Penguin Colony also works hard to protect the penguins and supports a small hospital as well. These little guys have a colony of about 30 pairs and a few were already moulting. They swim 10-20km out into the ocean to feed each day and then return just as the sun goes down. They arrive on the shore, swimming in rafts- groups of about 10-15 penguins. Regardless of the circus atmosphere, it was still totally great. They use yellow lights since the penguins can only see blues and greens. This lets you see the whole fiasco easily but prohibits the use of any cameras. There was a huge fur seal sitting in the way of their little entrance ramp, which totally freaked them out and slowed down their return to their nests. They pop up out of the surf onto the rocks and ‘socialize’ with each other a bit before heading up a rocky ramp, crossing a dirt path, squeezing through a fence and socializing again for a while before heading into their little nest boxes. The seal was riduculous- the little penguins would start to sneak past him and he would lift his head or slap his flipper and they’d all go scurrying back down to the ocean. Eventually a bunch of them would get started past him and would end up pushing one poor little penguin first and then they’d all rocket past (clumsily since they’re not all that graceful on land), running into their little colony. Then they’d hang out a little before going into the nests. The moulting ones even come out since they know they’re safe for some socializing too. These penguins don’t get as stressed as their Yellow-Eyed Penguins. It was totally worth it!

From South Island

Penguin Place

Spent last night at Penguin Place, a Yellow Eyed Penguin Preserve on the tip of the Otago Peninsula. We headed out a dusk into the preserve with a guide to watch the penguins on their nightly return from the ocean to their nests. It’s the start of moulting season so the birds are fattening up to begin their 3 week moult, during which they stand in one place and don’t eat or move. They can be stressed very easily during this time, using up valuable energy, sometimes dying before finishing the moult. They can also be started by seeing humans and will not return to their nests that evening, which is when they feed their young (all the young had already left the nest this year). This means that we had to sneak through tunnels and peek out at them through hides in the brush. It’s kind of a weird way to see wildlife but since these penguins are endangered it is the safest and least stressful way for the little guys to be seen. They have an infant mortality rate of 80%! We saw 4 riding the waves up onto the beach, a penguin couple cuddled together in the grass, one heading home, one in the middle of the moult and one at the end of the moult. They are really cute and quirky and it was well worth the price. All proceeds raised go towards rebuilding their habitat and funds the little penguin hospital for injured birds.

From South Island

A little yellow-eye penguin on her way home, passing a moulting penguin in his nest (see background- brown fluff). Click on photo for more…