Dunedin to Te Anau

We awoke in Dunedin feeling well-rested and determined to see the local penguins. After a pleasant breakfast near the local university, we drove over to the nearby Otago Peninsula, a protected area where particular efforts have been taken to remove and protect from mammalian predators. This protection has left the peninsula a hotbed of rare avian life, including the world’s only mainland albatross colony and one of the only mainland colonies of Yellow Eyed Penguins, an extremely rare and endangered species. After a fairly long drive to the end of the peninsula, we booked a tour of a penguin hospital/refuge and then visited the albatross colony, hoping to spot one before our penguin tour. After some time exploring the colony’s visitor center and learning about albatross, the wind picked up and I was able to watch a beautiful Royal Albatross soaring over the waves, likely taking advantage of the high wind to bring food for its children in one of the colony’s active nests. After seeing this lucky sight and somehow managing to keep a hold of my hat in the high wind, I left happily to enjoy our nearby penguin tour. The tour first took us through the rehab center, where injured and underweight penguins were being treated and fed before being released back into the wild. This came with incredible sights of several Yellow Eyed Penguins and even two Fiordland penguins who had been found underweight on the opposite side of the island from their usual home. After viewing the recovering birds, we were taken on a tour of the local reserve and colony. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to spot any wild Yellow Eyed Penguins but did see a few Little Blue Penguins actively nesting in boxes provided for shelter. We also came very close to quite a few resting New Zealand Fur Seals, enjoying the protected beach and seeming entirely unbothered by our presence. Sad to have missed the wild Yellow Eyes, (even though we had been warned it was quite unlikely) but feeling very lucky after seeing so many rare and beautiful animals, the tour came to an end and we began our drive to Balclutha for our evening’s respite.

Our evening’s accommodations in Balclutha ended up being half of a motor park owner’s old house– when we arrived he hopped in his car and told us to follow him across town, before handing us the keys to the upper floor of an extremely spacious home with its own well-equipped kitchen. (Plus separate bedrooms and a private bathroom! Wow!) Wanting to make use of the kitchen and take advantage of our increased carrying capacity with the rental car, we went to pick up some groceries and cooked a tasty pasta dinner before I enjoyed a nice warm shower and went to bed. The next day we had a fairly straightforward drive to the town of Te Anau and arrived in the early afternoon. I took the opportunity of the early arrival to book a trip across the nearby Lake Te Anau to view some of the famous glowworm caves of New Zealand. My grandmother was fairly uninterested in this trip so I went alone and met a friendly German woman also taking the tour solo. Happy to have someone to share the experience with, we headed into the relatively young cave, allowing our eyes to adjust and take in the wonderful water-worn walls while walking above a river flowing from deep underground. At the end of the walkway, we, along with the rest of a small group, stepped into a little boat. The guide worked the boat slowly up the river and more and more points of light came into view. The worms looked uncannily like a slightly blue-tinted night sky, almost forming constellations along the roof of the cave (sorry, no photos allowed). It was slightly unnerving to think of the strands of sticky spit waiting just above our heads, and worms waiting on the ceiling, ready to slowly crawl to and eat alive any bugs unfortunate enough to find themselves caught in the strands. Feeling lucky to be big enough, and human enough, to not really have to worry about such predators, I worked my way out of the cave with my group and explored the beautiful lakeshore forest nearby. After returning to town, I had a passable pizza dinner with my grandmother and then spent a few hours chatting with my new friend before calling it a night. Our plans for the next day were already set, a visit to Milford Sound, so I wanted to be well-rested and ready to enjoy the incredible day ahead.