Peninsulas and Penguins

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Day 531 (10.09.08)

We started the day with a great trip up the Otago Peninsula. Likely enough the weather had decided to be kind to us and we had great uninterrupted views across the inlets and bays making up the spit. We didn’t have too much time though as we had a planned to get north today. A quick stop at Shag Point and more Fur Seals was great. It is also supposed to be a good place to spot the illusive Yellow Eyed Penguin - however they only come out in the late afternoon/dusk and we were a little early.

We stopped to stretch our legs on the Katiki Beach - another place where you can spot the odd dolphin roaming off the coast - yet again we weren’t to be lucky.

Our penultimate stop north was at the Moeraki Boulders. These are another fascinating rock formation that we will not pretend to fully understand however this geological phenomenon has deposited a number of near perfect spherical boulders on the beach, with more being eroded from the cliff face.

Finally at Oamaru and our planned night spot - we found a fantastic cabin and went straight out to go and see some of the local wildlife. We firstly went out to Bushy beach not far from town itself, where there is a nesting site for the Yellow Eyed Penguins. The hide was gave you a great view of the beach albeit a little far away - however we were able to spot 5 of them either emerging from the water, walking from their nests onto the beach or just hanging around outside their nests - they were great!

Back towards town and Mum and Dad went into the centre for the Blue penguins. As we’d been to see loads of them on Phillip Island we left them to it and went to do the shopping for dinner.

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