We have had a wildlife viewing extravaganza over the last two day. Yesterday we arrived in Surat Bay, on the Catlin Coast in the SE part of New Zealand. We are staying in this isolated little hostel right next to a wildlife refuge. Yesterday we walked from our place to a beach where we saw 3 Hooker Sea Lions (endangered). They were just napping – Ashley was worried they were dead, but was most happy to discover that they were just taking an afternoon snooze, as that is what they do. Today, we headed over to Nugget Bay where we saw some more Sea Lions along with some Seals.
The highlight of the afternoon was seeing the Yellow Eyed Penguin. It is endangered (about 4000 left), and are one of the most ancient penguins out there. They are also unique in that they don’t breed in colonies. They are very scared of people and we had to hike to a hut to view them. We ended up seeing 2, maybe 3, penguins. One came out of the water, walked up the beach and stood around. Another went into the water. The third (not sure if its the second or not), came out of the water. They were adorable!!!! Looking totally goofy walking around.
Oh, yeah, I bungee jumped yesterday. It was pretty cool and very scary. I would do it again…….
You are going to have to wait a while, no wireless in the boonies
It sounds like every day's adventures are more interesting than the day before. We want pictures of penguins, seals and bungee jumping–ASAP.