Little blue penguins

Thursday 14 March

As a loyal reader has pointed out, if you click (or perhaps double click) on any of the photos you can access a higher-quality image, pan and zoom in ... and now over to the Editor

We left the Catlins Coast at Nugget Point: a literal and metaphorical high with tremendous cliff top views and even an albatross, which was pointed out to us as it flew over the sea.

The Nuggets

Next stop was the Otago Peninsula on the south-east coast. It's famous for its penguins, so I was a driven woman, determined to spot some. Easier said than done - the yellow-eyed ones are moulting and are therefore elusive at this time of year; the little blue ones only come ashore at night. So we duly set out to join a guided group on the beach at dusk, and the penguins arrived, and they were gorgeous. They are officially called 'Little Blue Penguins' as they are so small, about a foot in height, and they are blue. They arrive on the beach in groups, or 'rafts' as the warden called them, and the really magic thing was that only a small section of the beach was illuminated, so you couldn't see them swim in and then suddenly there was a gang of about 25 on the rocks. They made their way up (for them) a steep slope to get to their nests. Here's one of the resident photographer's videos:

Today and tomorrow we're heading up to Christchurch to begin a 2 day trek on the Banks Peninsula. You've perhaps heard there's a drought in NZ which has been terrific for us but not so good for the rest...just looked at the weather and the first storm for ages has been predicted. Sod's law! Mustn't grumble, though, given all the sun we've had.







 

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