We’re in Oamaru now, known for its penguins and limestone buildings. During the afternoon we walked around the town and visited a tourist shop where I met a possum up close. He was quite a bit bigger than I am, but I think good old Timbit would have been able to take him on.
We also visited the theatre, which was refurbished and only reopened a year ago. Operas are now held there, and it was quite posh for such a small town.
After dinner, Mom, Dad and I went to see the blue penguins. It was quite chilly sitting in the amphitheatre waiting for the rafts of 10-15 penguins swim back to shore to their nests. They’re not much bigger than I am.
Most of them live in nests made by people, who study them and make sure they are healthy. I learned a lot: they mate in June and lay two eggs. About 90 percent of the eggs are hatched. After eight weeks the baby penguins are left to fend for themselves. Instinct is all they have, and as a result only 40 percent survive this life phase.
Today was a leisurely drive to Dunedin. We extended what should have been an hour and a half drive into about four hours by stopping at the elephant rocks, Boulder Beach and Shag Point. In the parking lot for the beach, Mom stuck me in front of these large animals that looked like deer, but Dad said they were a cross between deer and elk. Mom kept calling them venison. Anyways, one of them licked my face … GROSS!
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- Me and Mom inside a boulder at Boulder Beach, New Zealand
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- That’s me on the old delivery bike in Oamaru, New Zealand
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- Here, I’m attacking a possum.
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- Me and Mom at the Blue Penguin Colony in Oamaru
