It had to happen. After striking lucky with campsites and fairly lucky with the weather, our good fortune with both ended on the same day.

As we drove (see below) down the east coast from the Banks Peninsula, the clouds gathered and by the time we reached Oamaru the rain was falling heavily. We knew the campsite was cheap at only NZ$20 a night, but had expected more than a bare field with a few caravans dotted around the edges. It would also have been nice to have electrics and plumbing that dated from this century, not the last.

And in case you're interested, shifting all our gear around, converting the seating into a bed, connecting up the power etc while it's raining is no fun. No fun at all.

We'd come to Oamaru mainly to look at the penguins, two species of which reside there. (Plus the chocolate biscuits, we assume.) First, we tried to get a glimpse of the Yellow Eyed Penguin - native uniquely to New Zealand and exceedingly rare to the point of extinction.

We ended up in a hide atop a cliff above a beach and were rewarded by a brief sighting as one of the birds waddled towards the sea before belly-flopping into the surf and disappearing. Well, that's what Katy said and she had the binoculars at the time, so who am I to contradict her?

After that, we went to a properly organised viewing of a Blue Penguin colony. Although we had to pay for the privilege, we were pretty much guaranteed a decent experience as the penguins live at the site during the day, swim out to sea and then return around dusk. True to form, the birds began to swim ashore around 9pm, in small groups of 8-10 at first then larger 'rafts' (as they are known) of around 20-30. They do this for safety in numbers while on land; at sea, they are generally solitary as it is safer to be a small target for predators.

Penguins in general are pretty comical creatures and the Blue variety - the smallest in the world at only about 30cm (12") tall - are no exception. They seemed to be thrown onto the stony beach by the waves and had to struggle to their feet, to be knocked over again by the next wave. Only after a couple of attempts did they get clear of the surf and start to make their waddling way up the beach to reach their nests.

That was when the extreme comedy kicked in.

We were fortunate in that laying pretty much on the optimum penguin path was a Fur Seal. It was tired and wanted to sleep and had no interest in the birds whatsoever as they meant nothing to its diet plan, but to the penguins the seal was a major issue.

Starting nervously up the slope, the leader would approach the seal and halt - causing several behind it to run into each other's backs. The whole group would pause and contemplate what to do - there are apparently no leaders in a Blue Penguin colony - then one penguin would take a few steps forward. At this point, the seal might yawn or stretch, and we would be treated to a cascade of penguins tumbling back down the slope as they tried panic-stricken to get away from the (non-existent) threat.

When the seal merely closed its eyes and dropped off again, the penguins would regroup and shuffle uphill again. One individual, not necessarily braver but perhaps pushed forwards by the momentum behind, would approach closer than before. If the seal remained still, the penguins at the front of the group would make an ungainly dash for safety. Those at the rear would probably get left behind when the seal twitched while dreaming about fish or something similar, and the process would have to start all over again.

It's a shame we weren't allowed to take photos or videos because it was just like watching a Disney cartoon.

OK, how sad is this? New Zealand allows car owners to choose their own number plates - presumably if they pay for the privilege - and you therefore get to see some amusing examples of what is possible with six letters and numbers. We've got into the habit (mainly me, I admit it) of noting them down as we drive. Here are some of the better ones…

KAMPER
PET DOC (yes, a vet's van)
FETICH (not spelled correctly, perhaps a relief to the small child in the back who can't work out why he keeps getting asked why he always wears wellies…)
WEE MIN (on a Mini)
LOLLIE
JOKING
I HIT IT
MY BAIB
MR SPUD (on a potato delivery lorry)
WHOOPZ
ME RIG (on a lorry)
DEBRAS
I MOO (lots of farms in NZ)
RECKR (on a car recovery vehicle)
CANDOO
HEART

Richard

PS Katy has been noting down all the different camper rental companies we have seen. If you can contain your excitement, she will list the 23 (and counting) in a later blog.