Otago Peninsula (David Bellamy eat your heart out)

High on a great weekend in Dunedin, but sad that five had become four, we drove out along the Otago Peninsula to visit a seal colony and try to find some of the
elusive and very rare blue penguins. Our tour was on private farmland, and we
were driven out to the viewing spots in an Argo. It's an amphibious vehicle with
eight-wheel drive, that feels like a large quad bike but is a lot more
sophisticated- NASA and the USA army use them and this farm in NZ is the largest private fleet owner, with sixteen. It was a bumpy ride along the muddy tracks
but great fun as long as we held on tight. These guys test new Argo models for
the manufacturers, thrashing them on the steep tracks around their farm so they
are pretty fast and furious drivers!

Getting close to the seals was pretty cool. They are awesome creatures, and look
like life is one big chill out - sunbathing on the rocks, playing in the rock
pools, yelling to each other about this and that, hurumphing about with their
flippers flapping. We wore long green coats and huddled a safe distance away so
as not to disturb them. But frankly they seemed to enjoy bring watched, popping
their heads up to say hello and waddling over for their close up.

Sadly the penguins were much more camera shy. We saw one in the distance (with the use of binoculars) from the viewing hut that we had to conceal ourselves in, but they make a habit of hiding from their predators and who can blame them as they really are very rare. Fortunately the farmers own the beach on the end of
the peninsula and are careful to ensure no one can access it, as human and
canine interference can be both fearful and fatal for the birds.

We also saw some nesting cormorants perched on the cliff side, swooping in to
land as the sea crashed on the rocks below them. It's a pretty wet, wild and
windy way to live but they looked right at home. It was quite the opposite of
the busy weekend we'd spent in Dunedin but just the tonic we needed to bring our spirits back down to a normal level.

Joss