Today, Tuesday, we woke up at 8 in the morning.
It was cold tonight (must have been around zero
or so) and there were a few tents on the camping,so they must have been cold in the night.
At 9 we drove to the big town of Twizel, well
known in Twizel itself and surroundings.
In Twizel we bought groceries and after this main
event we set for Oumarua, a town on the seaside.
Here we will see (we hope) penguins.
And………………..yes, we saw two penguins.
We visited a special place on the beach where
Penguins come from the sea, where they were
fishing, for their partners who stay on the beach
to hatch or to look after little penguins or
whatever.
Lots of people were looking from a special
shed (they paid $ 20,- for a busride to the beach
and back and we just drove down there) at the
beach where one penguin was standing, looking
at the sea.
He (or she) stood there almost for one and a half
hour and almost didn’t move.
Because no other penguin showed itself all the
people left again and Ankie and I waited a little
longer and “YES” there came another penguin
out of the sea and I have the beast on video.
Of course this is very spectacular.
This morning we set for Dunedin (a sort of copy
of Edinburg) also on the east coast of New Zealand,
Southern Island.
We found ourselves a nice campingplace on the
Otago peninsula, in a very little village, called
Portobello.
We àrrived early (we were the first today) and
after doing the administration we went to a
beach, called Sandfly beach.
We should see there:
- Sealions (Pakaka in Maori)
- Penguins.
As I wrote there was a strong wind (I think at
least 9 or 10 beaufort) because you could lean into
the wind and the sand bit in our eyes.
We started on the high cliffs and walked down to
the beach via a “long and winding road”, through
the sanddunes beneath the cliffs.
We were halfway and we thought to see a sealion
on the beach and soon it turned out there were at
least 15 big sealions (and a small dead one too) on
the beach, sleeping.
You could walk up to them, as close as a few
meters.
It was amazing to be so near to these big animals
who didn’t give a shit about us, being close by.
We photographed them all.
They just lay around on the beach and although
now and than one looked at us, they didn’t pay us
any further attention, flipped a little with their
flippers and went on sleeping.
The way back, up the cliffs was tiresome.
And……….…we didn’t see any penguins today.
Maybe tomorrow, who knows.
All the villages and towns have their own penguins
and we’ll be able to see some more, I think in the
coming days.
We also went to an albatross observation centre.
Prince Charles of England was there before us, in
2005. Maybe he chased the birds away.
It was cold outside, because of the strong cold
wind, so we decided to drink something and looked,
in vain, for an albatross (a bird with a wingspan of
3,5 or 4 meters when mature) from the observatory.
Probably the birds were doing something else than
having us have a look at them.
After this event we went home.
No pictures today (no wifi although we paid for it).
Shit happens.
Till the next time.
It was cold tonight (must have been around zero
or so) and there were a few tents on the camping,so they must have been cold in the night.
At 9 we drove to the big town of Twizel, well
known in Twizel itself and surroundings.
In Twizel we bought groceries and after this main
event we set for Oumarua, a town on the seaside.
Here we will see (we hope) penguins.
And………………..yes, we saw two penguins.
We visited a special place on the beach where
Penguins come from the sea, where they were
fishing, for their partners who stay on the beach
to hatch or to look after little penguins or
whatever.
Lots of people were looking from a special
shed (they paid $ 20,- for a busride to the beach
and back and we just drove down there) at the
beach where one penguin was standing, looking
at the sea.
He (or she) stood there almost for one and a half
hour and almost didn’t move.
Because no other penguin showed itself all the
people left again and Ankie and I waited a little
longer and “YES” there came another penguin
out of the sea and I have the beast on video.
Of course this is very spectacular.
This morning we set for Dunedin (a sort of copy
of Edinburg) also on the east coast of New Zealand,
Southern Island.
We found ourselves a nice campingplace on the
Otago peninsula, in a very little village, called
Portobello.
We àrrived early (we were the first today) and
after doing the administration we went to a
beach, called Sandfly beach.
We should see there:
- Sealions (Pakaka in Maori)
- Penguins.
As I wrote there was a strong wind (I think at
least 9 or 10 beaufort) because you could lean into
the wind and the sand bit in our eyes.
We started on the high cliffs and walked down to
the beach via a “long and winding road”, through
the sanddunes beneath the cliffs.
We were halfway and we thought to see a sealion
on the beach and soon it turned out there were at
least 15 big sealions (and a small dead one too) on
the beach, sleeping.
You could walk up to them, as close as a few
meters.
It was amazing to be so near to these big animals
who didn’t give a shit about us, being close by.
We photographed them all.
They just lay around on the beach and although
now and than one looked at us, they didn’t pay us
any further attention, flipped a little with their
flippers and went on sleeping.
The way back, up the cliffs was tiresome.
And……….…we didn’t see any penguins today.
Maybe tomorrow, who knows.
All the villages and towns have their own penguins
and we’ll be able to see some more, I think in the
coming days.
We also went to an albatross observation centre.
Prince Charles of England was there before us, in
2005. Maybe he chased the birds away.
It was cold outside, because of the strong cold
wind, so we decided to drink something and looked,
in vain, for an albatross (a bird with a wingspan of
3,5 or 4 meters when mature) from the observatory.
Probably the birds were doing something else than
having us have a look at them.
After this event we went home.
No pictures today (no wifi although we paid for it).
Shit happens.
Till the next time.
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