Monday was a holiday in Dunedin (Anniversary Day) so we played tourist for the day. It began with a tour of Cadbury World (yum!), then we traveled up the Otago peninsula to visit Larnach Castle (with its dramatic story), the Royal Albatross Centre (adult albatross' have a 9 foot wingspan, but the juveniles we saw were still fluffy), and my favorite—Penguin Place.

Penguin Place is a conservatory for the endangered yellow-eyed penguins as well as a hospital for all penguins from the south islands of New Zealand. After a brief introduction, we bussed and hiked to the beach on the east side of the island. Our guide, Megan, was wildly enthusiastic about these birds, and it was contagious. We hiked along a ridge where Megan spotted two (yes, two!!) yellow-eyed penguins on the beach. She suggested we run down the hill so we would be sure to see the penguins pass by as they walked up from the beach to their shelter for the night. As we trotted down the hill in silence (so as not to scare these natural creatures), we were shocked to see one yellow-eyed penguin in the grass at the base of some steps. We watched in wonder as the penguin sat. It moved its head once (exciting!), but it was not bothered by us (even more exciting!). Before long, Megan scooted us along so we would be able to see the other two penguins walk up from the beach.

We walked through a long maze of bunkers so as to be camouflaged from the penguins. When we got to the front bunker nearest the beach, Megan reminded us to be quiet and showed us which path the two penguins would walk up as they made their way to their evening shelter. We waited. The scenery was beautiful—a bay with a white sand beach flanked by hills on the left and cliffs on the right. Grasslands touched the white sand and made their way all the way up to the hills with horses and sheep. I enjoyed quietly observing the scenery as we waited. And waited.

As we waited for the penguins to march by, Megan told us some stories… all the penguins have names and personalities, and since they mate for life, there is time for drama to unfold. For example, penguin Jim has mated with penguin Maggie for several years. Jim often stays out late (fishing, I presume), so Maggie goes home alone. A younger penguin, Rod, has been looking at Maggie for years. Since Jim is often out late, Rod takes it upon himself to make sure Maggie has company. One night, Jim came home early and beaked the crap out of Rod. Now Rod has set up his home on the pathway between the beach and Jim and Maggie's home. He still comes home early but makes sure Maggie is walking up the path by herself before he follows her up to her home. So far, he's gotten away with it, but the conservationists are all waiting for the next time Jim comes home early!

A more heartwarming story involves a homosexual penguin, Buzz. He tried putting the moves on Todd a few years ago, but Todd wanted no part of that! The next time Buzz was seen hitting on a male, it was true love. Buzz and Gary went through all the mating rituals and spent much time together. They were a couple in every way. The conservationists were sad to see their mating did not produce any eggs, so they provided some mock eggs to nurture. As expected, the eggs never hatched. Buzz and Gary went about their year and tried for offspring again the following year. Their timing was fortuitous as there were some other (straight) penguins who tragically died while they nested. The conservationists moved their eggs over to Gary and Buzz' nest. The two males incubated them and hatched healthy baby penguins. Gary and Buzz fostered them until the juveniles were ready to leave the nest and swim off into adulthood. Gary and Buzz continue to be a happy couple.

We stayed until nearly sunset (three hours) but never did see the two penguins pass by. Good thing we had seen the one that was out of place and heard the stories! It made for a great day!