Feb 21, 2012 Tue Day 12 Dunedin

Awesome, awesome, awesome day.
Got up at 8.  A very lazy morning.  Breakfast in the camp kitchen.  Tour from 3-9 this afternoon to see penguins and albatrosses.   Elm Wildlife Tour.  In Otago Peninsula, Dunedin.  For those who are traveling with us.  (Gwenda & Ken)

Most gorgeous hydrangeas everywhere.  And rose gardens.  

Some kind of weeping tree. Only one I saw in NZ. 

City of Dunedin  

This campground had the most exquisite hydrangeas and roses of many colors. 

Bronze roses. 

All different paint colors on the picnic tables. 

 

For our Elm Wildlife Tour, we were picked up by a small bus at the campground. 
The first bird we saw was the "Pied Stilt".  (native)

Paradise Shelduck  

Pukeko  This deep blue bird with red bill and legs is extremely common all over NZ.

Black Swan. (Australian Introduction) 

Royal Spoonbill.  (native)

Spotted Shag.   

Yummy.   Seaweed. 

Royal Albatross.

 Albatross are the largest of the world's seabirds with the Royal being the largest of all. 
It's wingspan is 7 feet.  The Taiaroa Head breeding colony is the only Albatross colony
anywhere in the world which is based on a mainland. 

This one came so close I thought he would scoop me up. 

The road we travelled on to get to the Otaga Peninsula. 

Walked all the way down to the water to see the penguins and sea lions. 
Papanui Beach. 

Sheep were everywhere.  Impossible not to step in doo-doos.
The van stank all the way home.
When we got back, Marcel kindly washed the bottom of all our shoes.  

The blue or little penguin (Eudyptula minor), also known in Maori as korora, can be
found in many places around New Zealand and Southern Australia and is the world's
smallest penguin. They only come ashore under the cover of darkness and live
underground in burrows. Although quite common, its small size and unusual habits
make it rarely seen.  Max weight 2.2 lbs.  Only his little feet and lower body are seen here. 

Hooker Sealions are the rarest of the world's five species of sealions.  They are making a comeback to mainland NZ after being eliminated by Maori hunting centuries before the arrival of Europeans.  

Very noisy and playful.   We got very close to them. But far enough to outrun them. 
They will charge if they feel threatened.  

The penguins were adorable.  Apparently it's unusual for penguins to get close to sheep.  

  

A goodbye hug. 

Off to find another audience. 

The penguins were all over the mountain side. 

The "yellow-eyed penguins" (5000-6000) are the rarest of the world's 18 species of
penguins and like the Hooker Sealion, are found only in New Zealand.  


Yellow-eyed penguins do not migrate as some penguins species do.  


They are the largest penguins living in temparate region and were named Hoiho "noise
shouter" by the Maori because of their loud and distinctive call, the loudest of all
penguin species.  

This little guy was standing on our path.  We took a big circle around him so not to disturb him. 

Still standing on the path posing for a picture.  

Next were the Fur Seals.
Our driver was kind enough to run to the nearby farm and pick up a 4 wheel drive.
He drove us to the next site, so we didn't have to walk up a very long steep hill.   

These pups are a few months old. 
Cape Saunders. 

                  A very large population increase has occurred over the past few yrs.  They were hunted to
                                                           extinction by European seal hunters last century

Otago Peninsula.
The right bottom corner is where we went.  Looks like a duck head. 

City lights on our way home.  Home at 9:45.