Thursday, March 15, 2012

New Zealand's South Island: Curio Bay Penguins

On a dreary day Ellen and I decided to head for the southern tip of the Island in search of a grand spectacle. We'd heard rumors of "Hoppy Hour": the time of the day when weary penguins jump ashore and strut their stuff for the hoards of tourists who visit the area in hopes of picking one up and taking it home. (Ellen forbid me from partaking in this practice, saying there wasn't room in the camper van for three, and thus I was sentenced to watch from afar.)

As Ellen and I learned New Zealand's far south is pretty much the arctic. But there were penguins to be found. So we put on our best rain jackets and cold weather gear and set off on our adventure.


Too excited.

As it turns out, seeing penguins was not the only exciting thing to happen to us on the trip. We also ran out of gas on the way to see them. We left the last big town on the drive with around a third of a tank of gas, thinking that we could stop on the way to Curio Bay. What we did not know was that each of the small "towns" listed on the map between us and our destination was more of a collection of farm houses than anything resembling civilization. We drove through each of these fingers crossed: "Do you see a gas station?" "No, just sheep!" About 30 kms from Curio Bay and 100 kms from Invercargill -- the next big city center -- the situation was dire. And then we met the greatest Kiwi ever.

Fearing that we were doomed for a long hitch into town, we stopped by an "information center" in one of the small hamlets on the map. After learning about our plight the gentleman running the shop stared at his map and then said, "Doubt there's a gas station for 50 kms . . . and it's probably closed." "But don't worry," he said, "I'll sell you the gas I keep for my lawnmower." Amazing! We were saved (as was our date with the penguins)! Thank you, sir.

Curio Bay is not only home to Hoppy Hour but also lots of other interesting creatures. For example, the rare hector dolphin -- which looks like a mini orca -- plays in the bay and puts on a show for gawking tourists.




Contrary to what our guidebook said, "Hoppy Hour" is not so much a constant parade of penguins as it is a slow, drawn out, epicly cold and windy affair. We waited for hours in the rain and cold to get a glimpse of the rare bird and, fortunately, our patience paid off.


Curio Bay.

Ellen patiently waiting.

The prize!

First we saw this guy moulting in the bushes. (The government cop at Curio Bay -- who was in fact very nice and informative -- wouldn't let us get any closer.)



Then we saw this guy pop his head out of the bushes:


And then we saw these little fellows swim ashore where they stood for hours trying to build up stamina and blubber for their own moulting adventures. How many do you see?




When we left to go to sleep there were still penguins hopping around on the shore. I'm also pretty sure I heard sea lions barking while we slept, though Ellen thinks I'm making this up. And we woke to this sunrise: