Oamaru is 250km south of Christchurch. We’d stopped here on our way down to Dunedin, but as we knew we’d be coming back we decided to not explore the first time. It’s a good sized town. We went to the cheese factory and had a very nice tasting platter. Now I never used to even entertain the idea of cheese, but on the plane flying out here I decided to try the babybel which was with my meal. I liked it, so in the matter of 4 weeks I am now eating brie! The cheese is a famous one and you can get it in the supermarkets. My favour was the aged farmhouse ardale.
This area is famous for the fact that 2 different types of penguins nest here. There are the larger yellow eyed penguins and the diminutive blue penguins. It’s free to go and watch the yellow eyed penguins but they come to shore singularly. We did go down to the cliff tops and look for them. They are amazing little critters as they nest half way up the cliff!!! We saw on at it’s nest.
Stella & I decided that we wanted to pay and see the blue penguins come ashore. Jen had already done this and decided to stop in the van. We had no idea what to expect. You pay your money and then find a seat in a stand. We even treated ourselves and got a lush hot chocolate while waiting. The blue penguins come ashore in rafts, no not on rafts. They come in in groups of about 20. You had to be totally quiet. They come ashore and then make their way up the ramp and sit at the top. There is a wee path for them to cross before there is a grassey area with nest boxes where their chicks are. But it is so cute as they all make their way up the ramp and then there is a leader who kind of moves forward and then gives the all clear, and they all run forward over the path and to their homes. But if the leader stops then they all stop!!! They are only 1kg in weight and are so small. At one point, we saw 2 penguins running from the nesting boxes and looked like attacking the penguin who’d just returned. We found out that these where just hungry chick and impatiently wanting their dinner!!!
This area is famous for the fact that 2 different types of penguins nest here. There are the larger yellow eyed penguins and the diminutive blue penguins. It’s free to go and watch the yellow eyed penguins but they come to shore singularly. We did go down to the cliff tops and look for them. They are amazing little critters as they nest half way up the cliff!!! We saw on at it’s nest.
Stella & I decided that we wanted to pay and see the blue penguins come ashore. Jen had already done this and decided to stop in the van. We had no idea what to expect. You pay your money and then find a seat in a stand. We even treated ourselves and got a lush hot chocolate while waiting. The blue penguins come ashore in rafts, no not on rafts. They come in in groups of about 20. You had to be totally quiet. They come ashore and then make their way up the ramp and sit at the top. There is a wee path for them to cross before there is a grassey area with nest boxes where their chicks are. But it is so cute as they all make their way up the ramp and then there is a leader who kind of moves forward and then gives the all clear, and they all run forward over the path and to their homes. But if the leader stops then they all stop!!! They are only 1kg in weight and are so small. At one point, we saw 2 penguins running from the nesting boxes and looked like attacking the penguin who’d just returned. We found out that these where just hungry chick and impatiently wanting their dinner!!!
You couldn't take any photos of the penguins but at the place we went to watch them, there is a pier, just totally full of birds.
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