Twelve days

Twelve days. That is all I have left. Hard to believe my time in New Zealand is almost up. I am currently in Hokitika enjoying the west coast. Since I left Te Anau, I went and explored the southern eastern part of the south island and then made my way through Otago to the West Coast. My first stop on the east coast was Oamaru. I chose Oamaru because of the penguins. They have excellent viewing places for both Blue and Yellow Eyed penguins. The yellow eyed penguins are the bigger of the two, and they are shy. For this reason you have to watch them from a cliff. It was a bit of a walk to see them, but completely worth it. The view of the beach from the cliff was beautiful. Even if I didn’t see any penguins the view was worth the journey. I did get to see two or three penguins. I say that because they are quick and sneaky little buggers. I would never see them come from the beach. Just next thing I knew they were waddling along the sand. So I say 2 or 3 because one may have quickly joined with the other when I blinked. The yellow penguins come out just before dusk. The blue penguins come out at dark, The darker it is the better it is to see them. I made my way back to the backpackers and made some diner, and then ventured back to the harbor to see the little guys. The blue penguins are about the size of my forearm and the yellow ones are about twice that size. The blue ones are not shy. I had to look out for them on my walk because they waddle right into the path. They are also very talkative. They sometimes sounded like a cat, and others times like a bird. It was a unique noise. I walked around the harbor and listened to them squawk and it was an amazing night. I only spent one night in Oamaru. I wanted to see the penguins. I came, I saw, I conquered. Off to Dunedin.