Otago Peninsula - Penguins!

December 22, 2011

Otago Peninsula - Penguins!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The remainder of the night was uneventful, and surprisingly we slept well. We awoke to a beautiful, sunny, warm day. After breakfast, we headed towards Dunedin, a city of about 110,000 on the SE coast of the south island. It is very beautiful and hilly. We drove around trying to go to the i-site in the heart of town, but parking was difficult to find anywhere close, and we decided to just wing it. Donna realized that the first thing she had highlighted for the day in our Lonely Planet guide was about 7 km south of Dunedin, the direction we had just come in from. So we backtracked, and after lots of wrong turns, we finally found the Tunnel Beach track, after asking for directions from someone in a carpark at a surfers beach. The sign indicated a 20-minute walk down the steep trail, with a 40-minute return. Donna noted that she was determined to beat the 40-minute return estimate on the way back, and she did so easily making it back in 13 minutes (that Body Pump class really paid off, obviously – no wonder Donna has done so well hiking with her injured shoulder). I straggled along a few minutes later. The stepped tunnel (see pics later) was commissioned by the patriarch of the wealthy Cargill family. He wanted easy access from his estate to the romantic secluded beach. It is a dramatic setting with white sandstone cliffs and crashing waves.

Next to Dunedin, is the Otago Peninsula, our next destination. This is a beautiful peninsula, and where we finally have success seeing penguins! We had lunch in the carpark of Sandfly Bay, and then ended up doing a beautiful beach hike at Alan’s Beach, after the road to Sandymount was closed (we assume for lambing). This ended up being a good thing, as Alan’s Beach was wonderful. We walked the pristine and empty beach for an hour. By the time we were finished there were nearly a dozen people at the end of the beach watching a seal. We met 2 couples from south of Seattle, who said we should go to the Albatross Centre at 9:30 tonight to see blue penguins. After visiting for 15 minutes, we took off for our campsite at the only campervan park on the peninsula in Portobello. We immediately then drove out to the end of the peninsula to the Albatross Center, in hopes of seeing some albatross soaring. This location is the only place outside of the sub antarctic islands that albatross nest. Often, when winds pick up in the afternoon, you can see them soaring – no such luck this day – fairly calm. So back to the campervan park for dinner, a quick shower, and then back to the albatross centre (specifically the small beach next to the center.

Donna notes in her journal “Wow! Seeing the penguins tonight was amazing. About 50 people were standing behind a roped off area after the sun had set. At about 9:30 pm chattering could be heard and when I looked at the water, the penguins…. about 40-50 were swimming toward shore in a V-formation. They waddled onto the sand and immediately began dispersing up the hillsides where the nests and babies were. The volunteer guide encouraged everyone to sit down and be very quiet, saying the penguins would waddle right past us if we were not standing. Sure enough, several came within three feet of me on their way to the hillside. In addition to the chattering of the adult penguins, there was the sound of crying, sounding just like the sound of a human infant. It was such an incredible experience to see the blue penguins in the wild. Jeri and Bob (two of the Washingtonians) were there too.” Well put, oh beautiful wife! It was indeed a magical experience. Because it was so dark, and you weren’t allowed to use a flash, I only got a few pics when they came ashore, and not the best, but at least you can tell they are penguins. If I remember right, the little blue penguins are the world’s smallest penguins. Hurray – we finally saw penguins.