Feb 11 - Seals and Penguins

Mark picked several of us up at 2:30 p.m. and drove us along the high road that skirts the edge of the Otago Peninsula. He gave us insights into the plants, flowers, animals and buildings that we saw along the way.

We eventually arrived at a private sheep and cattle farm which still sports gun placements and an air raid shelter from WWII. Mark turned us over to Martin, the son of the farm owner. We climbed into another bus, and worked our way down almost to sea level. Rugged coastline and windswept cliffs and beautiful blue water - what an enchanting view. But it was the New Zealand fur seals on the rocks that stole the show. There were lots of pups playing and swimming in the sheltered pools. The pups don't go out into the ocean until they are 9 months old. These pups were about 3 months old - still learning the ropes of survival but old enough to be playful.

We went further along into a shelter, rather like a duck blind. There we saw blue penguins up close - one of them was beginning his catastrophic (complete) moulting. Blue penguins are the smallest of all penguins. Then we got to see a yellow-eyed penguin - the rarest of all penguins. There are fewer than 3000 of them in existence. No photos allowed of the penguins. If they get scared, they flee out of their protected nest and are then usually killed by bigger birds.

We had hoped to see albatross with their majestic 3-metre wingspan - there are about 200 of them in the area, but all we got was a glimpse of one. They like wind because they glide rather than flap their wings. The wind was just beginning to pick up.

Mark took the low road back - it hugs the shoreline. There were lots of interesting things along the way.

It'll be wine time soon - just enough time to post some pics!

Big news - Jennifer rode down the elevator with Brian May from Queen. And Jennifer and Jenny saw Adam Lambert. I wouldn't know either of them if I tripped over them, but they were excited/stoked/pumped/over the moon.Read more