PENGUINS!!!

 

Well, we made it to Sandfly Bay last night... This is where the yellow-eyed penguins nest.  We were told it would be a bit of a mission so we packed layers of clothes, bottles of water and mentally prepared ourselves to be on a cold windy beach staring into the ocean for hours... 

Just like Allens Beach the land is protected, so you park a good distance from the ocean and walk through farm lands.  We walked along a loose windy road through a sheep farm.  Upon reaching the beach we realized that the walk itself was the mission... the high winds at the beach cause massive erosion creating HUGE sand dunes.  It was quite impressive, like being in the desert.  The first sand hill was massively steep, as we were running down with our arms stretched out like flying birds, other kiwis were drudging back up the hill after their time on the beach, not near as excited about their ascent.  

After only a few minutes we spotted a little yellow-eyed dude waddling up the beach right in front of us.  Not wanting to scare him off we quickly hid behind a sand dune.  These little guys are very shy and won't exit the ocean if they see you on the beach, so stealth behavior is crucial.  We were a little family of ninjas.  I was able to get a few good pictures of the penguin as he climbed the dune to his nest, it was pretty cool seeing him so close.  
We continued on to the end of the beach and followed the signs to the viewing hide.  There were several people there waiting the arrival of the penguins hoping to catch a glimpse and a few photos.  After a short wait an older fellow spotted one in the surf.  Grace had her telescope ready! (a.k.a. a paper towel roll, which she had decorated)  The nice gentleman turned to her and said, those types of telescopes are very clear but the magnification stinks, so he let Grace use his binoculars, at which point she tried to reach out and touch the penguin, John and I had a good giggle at her excitement and honest amazement to the whole experience.  

   

They never got much closer than the rocks below, but it was fun playing where's Waldo with penguins.  We enjoyed our beautiful surroundings a bit longer and decided to head back home, it was the night before Grace's first day of school and an early nights sleep is very important. As we guessed, the walk back went a little slower than the descent down the sand hills, one in particular is quite a challenge. It was a nice workout for our legs and feet, trying to climb a mountain of endless loose sand is very hard, in case you're wondering... We had a good laugh at each other as we struggled up, sometimes on all fours.  We were headed on our short drive home by 8:15ish and the sun still had a good bit of sky left, I love these long days of summer...