Penguins

We finally got to see the beloved penguins! But, pictures were a bust. We were either too far away for a picture to be worthy, or we were not allowed to take pictures of the penguins at their colony.

Little Penguins, aka the blue penguins, aka fairy penguins are the penguins we saw in Oamaru. These little cuties spend their day out at sea and come home to their little houses at dusk. It took one hour for the whole colony to arrive home. They arrived in four large separate groups which are called rafts. Once on shore they clamber up the steep rocky embankment, take a quick look around and waddled off to where their houses are located. The penguins are totally wild but a preserve has been built for them and public viewing is allowed for a fee of $30. Photography of any sort is strickly forbidden, and quietness encouraged. It was an interesting experience to get a peek into the lives of these adorable birds.

We also got to to see one very rare Yellow-Eyed penguin just north of Oamaru on Bushy Beach. It is one of the world's rarest penguins with only about 4000 left in the wild, and a quarter of these nest on deserted beaches on the southeast coast of the South Island in NZ. The encroachment of humans on their habitat is one of the main causes of their declining numbers. The penguins have been badly distressed by tourists using flash photography or traipsing through nesting grounds. We were on a viewing platform when we were fortunate enough to see the Yellow-Eyed penguin come in from the sea and make its way across the beach to the bushes on the hill where its nest would be.