We stopped for coffee at Omarama, and by chance met our friends Fred & Cinda of sv Songline. (The chances of unexpectedly meeting someone a long way from home at a roadside cafe can't be that great...) They had decided to stay at the Top 10 Holiday Park also, so we made arrangements to cook and have dinner together, and go in the early evening to view the blue penguins at the Oamaru Penguin Center. Before that, Sue and I drove out to see the yellow-eyed penguins, and did actually see one, but he (she?) was so far away we couldn't see it's eyes! At the Center, the paying customers sat in bleachers and waited for the first "raft" of penguins to show up, and the naturalist educated everyone as to the habits and lifestyles of the blue penguin. It was dark before the first of many rafts came ashore, and these guys are SO CUTE!! They're the world's smallest penguin, weighing in at about 1 kg, and stand 30 cm high. They waddle/jump up the rocky beach, then go thru to their nesting places on the other side of a fence. And, are they noisy! They only sleep for about 10 minutes, then socialize or whatever, until taking off in the early morning to go feed again. We all enjoyed a unique experience, and we sure hope the penguins enjoyed it as much as we did!
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