Ohhh Ahhh Oamaru

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Oooooh the penguin hunt was worth it!!! Oamaru was a funny little place - nothing really going on there apart from the penguins. We had a couple of beers in the afternoon before trecking down to the penguins. These are the little blue penguins they have here - same as we missed in Melbourne. I think I mentioned already somewhere in the blog that they go out fishing early before dawn and come back from the sea late when the sun has just set, under the cover of darkness so their predators can't see where they live. So we waited, and we waited, and we waited... and would you believe it, just as we were giving up hope, getting hungry and cold etc, at about 8.30 pm the first 'raft' of little blues came surfing into shore! Oh my word they were so cute, and so teeny! These adorable little guys come splashing in, crashing against the rocks and once the wave goes out again, try to get their balance on the beach before the next wave comes crashing in, knocking them clean off their feet. Once up, they have the long slog of getting up the 4m of rocks and over the road to where their nests are. Made more difficult that night (and significantly more entertaining) by the fact that there was a fur seal sitting right in the middle of their path! Fur seals don't eat penguins so we weren't worried about a blood-bath, but as they wobbled their way up and litterally tiptoed round the seal in groups for bravery, if the seal moved an inch they would go flying all the way back down the rocks in fright and have to start their laborious journey again. It was definitely the cutest thing I have ever seen, and one of the funniest too. The ones that got past the seal literally sprinted for the top of the rocks, flapping, skidding and sliding about on their bellies. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures as the flashes would really frighten the little guys, but take my word for it - if you ever have the chance to see them, you must go!

We had dinner at the restaurant next door at about 9 (the penguins would have kept coming for another hour but we were really hungry by then) and when we left at 11, they were still waddling all over the road out there. With absolutely no roadsense whatsoever, terrible eyesight on land and easily dazzled by car lights is amazing any survive!

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