Faye and Mark's Wildlife Week!!

What a week we have had, Sir David Attenborough would be proud! We finished our time in Christchurch with a trip on the Trans Alpine Express....a lovely train journey through the Southern Alps....it was nice, but very very very wet!!! We did manage to squeeze in a walk in Arthurs Pass to see Hell's Punchball Falls....the wet bums were worth it!! We then left Christchurch and headed to Akaroa, taking the Tourist Scenic Route...and what a route, we have never driven roads like it, i cannot do the views justice with words....pictures can hardly capture how amazing it looks - driving through the mountain ranges, formed by 10 million years of volcanic activity, steep drops to bays on each side, cows and sheep everywhere!!!! Akaroa is a gorgeous little town on the Banks Peninsula, and we loved it! We stayed at a very friendly hostel...Bon Accord...and met some lovely people...Hello to Edd and Michelle!!! Apparently the French got to Akaroa first, and even though the British claimed it...everything in the town has french names and styles! Our wildlife tour began on the drive.....more cows than you can imagine (i'm sure there are more cows in new zealand than sheep!), sheep and wild birds, in particular the Australasian Harrier Hawk. The sheep (and cows also, we discovered)...have a strange way of runnning up the road straight ahead of you when they are scared...instead of simply side stepping out of the way!!! The trick is to speed up a bit!!! Next came the dolphins, Hectors Dolphins, the smallest in the world, and the only dolphins with rounded dorsal fins and flippers! The are only found off the banks peninsula, and we were lucky enough to both swim and kayak with them! They love to play and investigate what is going on, so we were easy targets!!!! There is nothing like the feeling of floating, in wet suit, flippers and snorkel mask in murky water.....and suddenly from what seems like underneath you, or right beside you a dolphin appears!!! It made me jump every time!!! The more noise you make the better, and they especially liked Mark's singing! It was freezing cold but you didn't notice after a while! At one point 5 or 6 dolphins were circling me, and i managed to swim after them in their draft...although not for long as i was not quite fast enough!!! It was simply magical! We kayaked with them the next day....4 hours of solid kayaking to reach them, but worth the sore arms, they were just as inquisitive, and loved the kayak!!!! From dolphins we move on to some land wildlife....possums, pigs, peacocks, chickens and ducks - all residents at the mountain lodge we stayed at!!! From Akaroa we drove on to Lake Tekapo, Twizel and down to Dunedin. From Dunedin you can get to the Otago Peninsula, and this provided our next wildlife treat! We stoppped at the Aquarium and saw amongst others, eels, sharks, crayfish and hermit crabs being fed! Then it was on to the Yellow Eyed Penguins! These are rare penguins that inhabit the south islands around new zealand. We visited them in a reserve, walking and climbing through trenches so as not to scare them by our height! They walked out of the sea after a hard day's fishing and were heading home for tea!!! They did not seem to notice us at all, and went about their business for us to watch! Also living on the beach were a number of New Zealand Furr Seals!! Apparently it is a bit of a batchelor pad for those males that haven't found a mate yet!!! The biggest treat was the Blue Penguins....the smallest in the world and extremely rarely seem! We left the Yellow Eyed Penguins, and equiped with as many layers of clothes as possible, set off for the next bay. Blue Penguins spend their days at sea, returning only after dark to their nests on land. We stood with around 20 other wildlife spotters and waited for the sun to set.....and as it did so, suddenly, out of what looked like an empty sea, sprang about 20 - 25 penguins.....they came from nowhere, and once on land began to walk up the beach towards us, we stood absolutely still and quiet, straining our eyes to see what we could with hardly any light....they walked right past us to get to their nests, seemingly made confident by the darkness! One penguin actually did a circle right around mine and Mark's feet. After a little while more sprang from the sea....all in all about 3 groups emerged over about an hour, and made the journey up the beach to their nests....crooning to each other that they were home as they went. There was no tourist attraction, no signs, no charge...just nature...and one of the most amazing experiences of our trip! And it doesn't stop there!!! We were up early the next day to visit the Great Royal Albatross Colony living on Otago Peninsula. You cannot imagine the size of an Albatros until you see them up close, a wingspan of around 3m and hip-height when standing! They glide on the wind rather than fly, and are so graceful and effortless! The spend most of their lives at sea, leaving the nest at around 9 months, and not returning to land for around 5 years.....they spend this time circumnavigating the globe, in the 40s latitude around Antartica. I was reminded of studying The Rhyme of the Ancient Marina by Samual T. Coleridge at school.....and strangely now wish to read it again! As well as on the peninsula we were lucky enough to see an Albetross flying with us on our cruise of Doubtful Sound....it wasn't there for long, but as we entered the Tasman Sea it joined us, or perhaps we joined it....for a few moments journeying together. We also saw a number of Stewart Shags....another extremely rare bird! We have seen soooo much and learnt so much this week....it has been amazing! One little fact for you all.....New Zealand has NO natural mammals(except for a few bat species).....before people arrived birds had evolved to fill every neiche....many becoming flightless and growing to giant proportions. Sadly with people came new animals, and with them the extinction of around 80% of New Zealand's native creatures. We really have no idea what we do! We have been priviledged to see some of the spectacular ones that remain. xxx