More from our travels through New Zealand 2019
Whilst I’d resigned myself to not being able to identify most of the wonderful birds we came across on our trip, and I’d no desire to go to see captive birds, we were agreed it was worthwhile putting some effort into seeing a couple of species we were unlikely to see anywhere else in the world.
Penguins were were in pole position. We were extremely lucky, whilst on a trip to Doubtful Sound, to see Fiordland Crested penguinn, look it’s here, in the centre of the photo, sat on a rock, can you see it?
I know, hardly a National Geographic image is it! But never mind, we got a better look with Mr Uphilldowndales binoculars, which were a gift from his employers for 30 years service, and are very useful for seeing into the future. */**
We tried again at Curio Bay. We waited, and waited as dusk fell, but they didn’t show.
We’d been told that the town of Oamaru held the best chance to see the Little Blue penguins,
I can’t think about the little blue penguins without out this song running on a loop in my head. Little blue, how do you do.
The town is very proud of its penguins, this ‘green box’ (utility box) made me smile.
The residents look out for their welfare,
You can pay to see them from a visitor centre, but we were told we didn’t need to do that. I got very excited when I saw footprints in the sand.
Down by the waterfront we found one of the penguin wardens, clad in hi-vis vest, they were more than happy to tells us all they knew about their special residents. And tell us where to wait and how not to disturb them as they waddled back to their nests.
They come ashore in rafts, as in swimming together, not sitting on rafts! The thought of rafts coming ashore does kind of conjure up an image of something slow moving; wrong, they are more like little torpedoes!
It was too dark, to capture much in the way of images, as you can see. But I’m thrilled to say I saw them
And what’s more, a pair were nesting under some decking, very near where we were staying, and I drifted off to sleep that night, listening to their distinctive calls, (starts at 11 seconds)
Which was every bit as magical as the NZ dawn chorus.
*we forgot to take them out with us 75% of the times we needed them, on the Doubtful Sound trip we remembered them, but forgot the packed lunch!
**At Mr Uphilldowndale’s long service awards dinner, every employee at our table was, like Mr Uphilldowndale, working their notice, having been made redundant. It has to be said though, he’s never looked back.
30 years of employment with the same employer is a thing of the past I guess.
February 23, 2020 at 11:48 pm
We have that binocular problem too.
A quality song.
February 24, 2020 at 11:48 am
Good post and pictures and interesting links. Lucky you seeing penguins that. xx
February 25, 2020 at 12:04 am
I saw penguins in South Africa on Boulders Beach in Cape Town. I managed 25 years before I jumped ship, if I had hung on until 60 it would have been 30 but I had good reasons to go.
Looks like you had a lot of fun, it’s too far for me though. Very good photo of the penguin on the rock.
February 25, 2020 at 7:56 pm
We did indeed have a lot of fun. Writing up the blog posts has given me chance to take a closer look at some of the things we experienced, we did squeeze an awful lot into our time there.
February 25, 2020 at 1:25 am
I LOVE the sound of the penguins. In fact, it made me laugh. It’s just so improbable. And the footprints in the sand are so cute. Everyone leaves a footprint! (Well, except snakes and fish and…)
February 25, 2020 at 7:51 pm
I’m glad they warned us when we booked into the site, I’d never have guessed such a little bird could make the noise of a donkey!