The Penguin Express

Trip Start Jun 09, 2003
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Trip End Jun 02, 2007


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Where I stayed
Red Kettle Youth
(Oamaru hotels)

Flag of New Zealand  ,
Friday, March 5, 2004

Oamaru is a little village half way between Christchurch and Dunedin. I stayed in the Red Kettle Youth Hostel which was very comfortable and friendly. Oamaru is the Penguin capital of New Zealand so I booked on the Penguin Express to go and visit them. Bruce and his bus picked me up outside the hostel at 7.00pm and our first stop was Bushy Beach to see the rare yellow eyed penguins. There are only about 1800 left in existence, so they are an endangered species. At the beach we went to there were about 8-10 pairs. Every morning they swim up to 40m out to see and dive at depths of up to 120m to catch fish. Each penguin has it's own feeding ground where he returns every day. Just before dusk they travel back to the beach and climb up the cliff to their nests. We were very lucky to see 5 penguins return from the sea and one penguin in its nest molting. They were just tiny little dots down on the beach as we had to view from up top so as not to disturb them. Luckily Bruce had a pair of binoculars so we could see them quite well. After the most spectacular sunset I've ever seen we were then taken on a tour of all the old buildings around Oamaru before going to see the blue penguins. These are the smallest penguins in the world. At sunset they gather in little groups, called rafts, at sea and then swim back to land together. We didn't see any returning but we did see 3 cute little baby penguins who were even smaller, they were tiny. They were playing on the beach, charging at each other and jumping on top of one another. It was great fun to watch them. The Penguin Express then returned me to the YHA where I had another night before heading onwards to Dunedin!
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