Thursday 7 February
Looked forward to today for a while.Up at 4.30am to set off for the beach at 5.15am with our nature guide,Steve, for the day. Drove to Sandfly Bay (wind) to see the penguins and had to climb down some steep sand dunes in the dark using torches to guide us over the dunes etc until we reached the beach.Fantastic being up early and in the wild coastal area walking along the beach to the hide as the light gradually increased. Made it up to the viewing hide to watch as the penguins slowly started to make their way down the steep hillside to the rocks and the sea. These are some of the worlds rarest penguins and only a few small colonies in NZ.
They were worried by a couple of playful fur seals that kept swimming up to the rocks to see them and the penguins very quickly retreated up the hill. After some time they plucked up the courage and made it to a rock where they were able to leap into the sea when a decent wave arrived, superb to watch.
We walked back along the beach with the sun up and past a very large sea lion sleeping on the sand, took no notice of us, and back up the seemingly even steeper sand dunes. It was a wonderful walk and then back to the house for breakfast before taking off for a tour of Dunedin including all the old buildings. Had a picnic in a lovely spot by Hoopers Inlet with loads of wading birds before going on a boat in the harbour to see the Albatross breeding colony at the point. Loads of gannets on water, quite rare, lovely tour around the Otago Peninsular with stunning views and a great dinner to finish the day. A very, very memorable day.
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