NZ Land Logs 18, Year 2: South Island—The Otago Peninsula
Date: Thursday, March 8, 2007
Weather in Dunedin: Sunny and Cool
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand

Today we traveled from Papatowai in The Catlins to Dunedin and on out to the Otago Peninsula. There was more rain in the early morning, but before noon we had sunny skies once again. We started our day at the Purakaunui Falls, New Zealand’s most photographed, although not the most spectacular we have seen this week. Still we had a great walk through the forest with birds that sang to us as we walked. Throughout the day, we continued to see more and more birds, and then we ended our day with Yellow-eyed penguins. It was a “flighty” day, or “flightless” one in the case of the Yellow-eyed Penguins, and quite a thrill.

>From the Purakaunui Falls we drove back roads to Jack’s Bay. This bay was named after Maori chief Tuhawaiki, known to European settlers as Bloody Jack–not someone I’m sorry not to have met. In order to get to Jack’s Bay we drove along the Catlin River It was lowtide and there were lots of sea birds in the shallow water. We saw South Island Pied Oystercatchers, locally known as sipos, and maybe even a Variable Oystercatcher. This bird is protected and uncommon but we didn’t get any pictures so I guess we will never know. In the same area we saw White-faced Heron, Grey Teal Ducks, and a few White-backed Magpies in the nearby sheep pastures. We drove to Jack’s Bay in hopes of seeing Jack’s Blowhole, but once we got there we realized we would have a one-hour return walk and probably no blowhole as it was low tide. We enjoyed the views and then headed back to the Catlin River and crossed it to reach the town of Owaka. Not far out of that town, we headed down the backroads once again to reach Nugget Point. We enjoyed seeing the old style light and the new, very tiny, light emitting diode (LED) light that has been installed to replace the old one. We walked up to the lighthouse platform and had great views up and down the coast. From the lighthouse we could look down and watch the fur seals and sea lions basking on the rocks and playing in the water. There were more birds to watch here as well. We thought we spotted a nesting albatross and we did see an Australasin Gannet nearby her nest. We then walked down to Roaring Bay in hopes of seeing some Yellow-eyed penguins and possibly a couple of elephant seals. The only Yellow-eyed penguin we could see was in the far distance, but there were no seals or sea lions in sight. so on we went.

We took the scenic route up the coast to the city of Dunedin and enjoyed fantastic views from a thousand feet above. We then dipped down to the coast and again the views of sand beaches with breaking white waves and blue skies was just stunning. We reached Dunedin by late afternoon and started the drive out the Otago Peninsula. The drive out the Peninsula is quite interesting. The road is very narrow and is literally right on the edge of the water. Alan was driving this stint and although he did a great job, the ride gave us all a little fright. We reached our destination for the night around 5:00 and found that we were in just the right place. We had made reservations at the Penguin Place, a backpacker on the peninsula, not knowing that it was on the same farm as the Yellow-eyed penguin Conservation Reserve. This penguin is found only in New Zealand and there are only about 4,000 of them left. This is the world’s most endangered penguin and this reserve has built blinds from which to watch the penguins without disturbing their environment. We made reservations for a 6:15 pm tour, checked out our accommodations for the evening, and made a quick trip to the nearby Royal Albatross Center. We didn’t have time to do the tour of the center and view the albatross in their nests, but we get to see these magnificent birds soaring in the sky above us. This was one time when we needed a telephoto lens to capture these creatures, but luckily Alan had one and he did get some great pictures.

We got back to the Penguin Place just in time for our tour there. Our tour guide, Anna, gave us an overview of the Yellow-eyed penguin and then took us by bus across the sheep farm to the water’s edge. We walked downhill to first see the fur seals and then we started our penguin search. We saw one older penguin just standing outside his little man-made home starting the molting process. And then we saw a juvenile strutting up the hill. He had just finished the molting process with the exception of tufts of feathers still encircling his head. The Yellow-eyed penguin has a yellow band around the head. This young fellow was molting for the first time and when those last feathers are gone and his yellow band is there for all to see, he has come of age. On this reserve, penguin homes are provided. The Little Blue penguin houses were tiny little square wooden boxes and the yellow-eyed homes were A-frames covered with hay. We walked through man-made tunnels, half below and half above ground, to hide ourselves from the penguins and viewed them from blinds. We watched one little guy walk out of the water and onto the beach, arriving home at the end of long day of feeding at sea. It was a great tour and we were just so happy to be able to see this special penguin. We only saw a couple of Little Blues (also called the Fairy penguin) in their little box homes, but tomorrow we will see more of these little guys at our stop for the night in Oamaru.

Our bird finale for the day was seeing Pukekos. This is a New Zealand bird that looks like a black chicken with a big red beak. We have seen them in pictures, seen them stuffed in museums, and have even seen one in a pen in a wild life park, but it was neat to see them out in the wild. We got back to the backpacker and fixed tacos for dinner. We are sharing a farmhouse with about 8 bedrooms with only one other traveler tonight. This backpacker is neat and clean, has a great kitchen, and a great view of the bay. The bedrooms are very basic, but it is after mid-night already and we will be up by 7:00 am, so who needs a fancy bedroom anyway?!!

070308 Web Pics–Papatowai to Otaga Penninsula