Otago Peninsula

Today I spent the afternoon on a wildlife tour of Otago Peninsula. We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day, with just enough wind to make my cheeks rosy. The drive from Dunedin to the peninsula in itself was beautiful.


Our first stop was at the only mainland albatross colony in the world. We were told that we’d have to be really lucky to see an albatross… and I’m happy to report that our luck held! I saw three birds flying and they truly are beautiful and humongous! Their wings span 3 meters! From there we drove to the Yellow-Eyed penguin colony. On the way we saw a baby sea-lion that was really cute. We got to the penguin colony right around sunset and I have to admit that I spent most my time looking at the sky.

Still, I saw quite a few penguins emerge from the sea and waddle over to the hills. We also saw very large male sea lions and a big fur seal colony with lots of pups.


Therefore, on the animal front it was a good day. However, what I will remember most is standing on a cliff, surrounded by farmlands, under a gorgeous ever changing sky. The sunset colors were incredible, the clouds were magical, and I felt truly blessed to have witnessed it all!