After a short ride in the mini-bus we jumped out and took off down a narrow trail in the side of the hill overlooking the beach where the penguins come ashore.
We very quickly came upon a group of fur seals resting on a grassy area.
And then there was this little guy.
This one was feeling a little nappy from a busy day fishing.
They didn’t seem bothered by us being so close to them. We then scampered through the elaborate trench system that has been built so that the penguins can be viewed without disturbing them.
Sprinkled through the beach area are penguin blinds where you can view them closely without the penguins seeing or being aware of you.
Once in the blinds we were rewarded with some close-up views of the rare yellow-eyed penguin.
The sanctuary has built little penguin forts that the birds seem to prefer to their burrows. Apparently they offer all the comforts a penguin looks for in a modern home.
Here’s a guy that was just standing around waiting for his mate to return from the ocean.
From one of the blinds we were in we managed to catch a short video of one of the penguins that had just come ashore and walked across the beach.
It was a very rustic day but we really were rewarded with seeing five total yellow-eyed penguins. Estimates are that there are only about 3,000 of them left in the world and only about 700-800 nest along the coast of the south island of New Zealand. So even though we saw just five we felt quite lucky.
