Penguins!

Penguins, one of the earth's most curious and quirky creatures! I have been fortunate enough to see the little birds in South Africa and New Zealand, although I dream of seeing them in Antarctica someday! The best ever was seeing them on the beach in the Otago Peninsula, close to Dunedin. A german friend knew of a beach where they come onto for the night. Interestingly, penguins are not able to stay at sea at night, and so must come on shore for the night. You can see the tracks in the sand as they go into the grass and sand dunes to sleep. Often they go as far as 1km inland! We waited for a few hours, hiding behind some rocks..and then a group camne on shore...it was spectacular! I felt like national geographic...it was incredible to see them waddling onshore. This breed was the Yellow-eyed penguin, found only on the South Island of New Zealand.

This is the beach we walked down to, in the centre of the photo

These pengiuns I saw in the Water World in Auckland. They are Emporer Peguins, found in Antarctica. They are 3-4 feet high and absolutely amazing.