Today was pretty special. I got to catch a tour that took us all through the Otago Penisula, the home to giant albatrosses, tiny penguins, and well, medium-sized seals.
A nice lie-in then some homemade clam chowder and another of my now near-daily favorite cappucinos, and then I met up with the group at 12:30. Again, while cold, travelling in the off-season has its advantages, as there were only 10 of us in a bus normally packing 30-40. As the Brits would say... result!
For being so close to Dunedin, the penisula is remarkably rural... with the rolling hillsides and small farms, I immediately thought of Northern California's Marin or Sonoma county.
Our first stop was the protected breeding grounds of the Royal Albatross, one of the largest birds in the world. It's a shame the pics can't really capture the scale – but suffice it to say that it's full wingspan is about twice the width of a person's arms spread wide. Kee-razy.
They even had life-sized mockups... even the smallest bird was about 15 pounds, and the largest, up to 25-30.
Unfortunately there weren't any adults flying about, but we did get to see one of the adolescents from a hide. Even that one was massive, and it kept stretching its wings to build up strength for its first flight. The funny thing about these birds – they're rather like planes launching from an aircraft carrier. Both need a lot of wind rushing over their wings to get up and airborne.
The museum also covered the other birds of the area - especially the world's 2nd best named bird:
...beaten out only by England's Great Tit. :)
Next we got to take some winding country lanes to a farm on the coast, which gave us access to a sea lion colony. Gorgeous from the outset – what looked like there an initial 20-30 animals, turned into 100+. Their camouflage is deceptively good and you only really noticed once they moved.
The good news is that this colony has recovered really well from near extinction in the 1800's – and is growing rapidly... a nice change from the albatross who are only slowly making a comeback.
Our last wildlife stop was the quirkiest, taking in some yellow-tailed penguins. The tour company has this trip down to a science, and we get down to the beach just as the penguins are coming back out of the water to roost in the shore.
Initially, we didn't see any, besides footprints from the previous day:
...but as we got settled into another hide, we got to see a bunch of them up on the grassy slopes, plus a few intrepid groups as they waddled out of the surf. It's a nervous time – as sea lions or other predators can try to grab them, so they go in groups. Not out of a sense of brotherhood mind you – nope, it basically gives each of them a greater chance that the predators will go for the OTHER guys.
The penguins are really cute – and got to within 15 feet of our hide...
As we walked back along the beach, we got to see some other sea lions at super close range:
… then a last mating pair of penguins decided to waddle right up our trail to bed down for the night. We took a separate trail to not spook them but got to watch from super close range as they settled in.
We caught the sunset, and then it was time to roll back to Dunedin. A beer at a pub and a bus ride home for some homemade curry at Dave and Drea's, and hm... what else besides Settlers?
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