We all wanted to see penguins before leaving New Zealand, so Brad booked a tour with the eco-tourist company "Pohatu Penguins". The tour started in Akaroa, another top choice for a place to live here, which is about 1 1/2 hours outside of Christchurch. The owner picked us up in her 4WD and we headed out onto the Banks Peninsula. I have become accustomed to pretty sketchy roads living here, and these were some of the sketchiest. The one lane road barely hugged the side of the peninsula, which plunged into the sea far below us. At the top it was so foggy we couldn't see 20 feet in front of us, either. During the winter the roads can be impassable and the owner told us they sometimes have to wait for several weeks before they can go into town. Years ago they built a house in town where the woman stayed with their kids, so they could attend school, and they would spend weekends on the peninsula. Anyhow, the kids thought it was great fun, all the better because they weren't riding in their car seats.
Out first stop was to see her weta monitoring project. She pulled over and we could barely keep up with this 60-something year old woman hiking up a steep hill. Wetas are indigenous insects, sort of like flightless grasshoppers, and it was pretty neat to see big ones close up. Next she drove right past an official Department of Conservation sign that said "Dangerous Cliffs, No Entrance" and we got to see some great views. Actually, that part was only fun for Brad because my mom and I were holding the scruffs of Lazlo and Liska's necks the entire time.
She offered us the option of tramping a couple hours to our cabins through private bush with waterfalls, or driving us. It was rainy and cold but we wanted to tramp. She walked us part way because there were some tricky parts with the kids she wanted to help us get through. Here is a photo of one of the tricky parts, she is at the front with Lazlo. You can't tell from the photo, but the drop off was impressive.
The walk was beautiful and we ended up in Flea Bay, at our cabins. One had heat. Neither had toilets. Sheep were running around everywhere, seals were on the beach and the bay was perfectly peaceful. We all agreed we could have happily stayed there a long time.
The next night we walked over to the neighboring bay to see the penguins. Everyone had to wear camouflage ponchos so the penguins wouldn't get scared. Liska is the little person with the yellow rain gear under hers. The tour operators raise orphan Little Blue Penguins and take them to the ocean each night, once they reach a certain age, to see if the penguins are ready to go to sea. One was ready the night we went, he waddled across the sand and swam away. The neatest part to me was watching them swim close-up. They look like they are flying in the water, which was surprising since they are so awkward on land. We also saw penguins in the wild from a viewing place on their property.
The tour operators seem to own much of the Banks Peninsula, apparently the land has been in their family for many years. We figured they must be worth an incredible amount of money, yet they choose to live in a tiny, charming but rickety old cottage in complete isolation. When I asked the woman if they went to warmer, more populous places for vacation (lots of people in NZ holiday in the Pacific Islands) she laughed and said they went to their rat-infested cabin in the mountains instead.
