Onwards and back up the east coast towards Christchurch(our final NZ destination), we had rather wanted to see the Penguins(Yellow -Eyed variety)..and what better destination than the Otago Peninsula? Booked a tour with'Penguin Place' which was OK but didn't get much of a view as the Penguins are currently laying eggs and each pair in this conservation area have man-made nesting boxes. Not a lot of movement going on as they sit on nests awaiting the inevitable hatching time. Still' it gave us some valuable information re their habits. We decided to have a walk down to the local coast-line and having climbed to the top of an old volcano vent, polled on down to the beach.
We had only been down there 5 mins when I noticed some movement in the far dist
ance. A penguin waddling from the sea, up the beach to be greeted by his mate, who then proceeded on down to the sea to fish. They swap duties every now and then (6-12hrs), until the brooding and feeding of their young is complete!! We felt very priveliged to witness this and sat riveted to the spot with our binoculars 'glued to' our eyeballs for a further hour whence the whole ritual was repeated by other couples 3 or 4 times.
We had only been down there 5 mins when I noticed some movement in the far dist
ance. A penguin waddling from the sea, up the beach to be greeted by his mate, who then proceeded on down to the sea to fish. They swap duties every now and then (6-12hrs), until the brooding and feeding of their young is complete!! We felt very priveliged to witness this and sat riveted to the spot with our binoculars 'glued to' our eyeballs for a further hour whence the whole ritual was repeated by other couples 3 or 4 times.Great views of grey fur seals and Sea-lions were also had.
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