...and albatrosses really exist
Onto our third ocean in five days. At the start of the week we looked west into the Tasman Sea; yesterday south into the Southern Ocean; today east into the Pacific. In truth they all look pretty similar, but I like the mythical quality of the idea.
They're all reminiscent of the North Sea in terms of temperature (bracing), but not in any other respect. They're the way oceans ought to be: wild, pure and blue. The purity accounts for the range of wildlife - penguins, seals, dolphins (allegedly) and more.
The 'more' also covers seabirds, including the albatross. From our base in Dunedin, we drove out on the Otago Peninsular this morning and visited the world's only mainland albatross nesting site. Fascinating, though the albatrosses clearly prefer colder and windier weather.
Something completely different this afternoon - a great train trip ito the mountains of the interior. NB Both of today's activities were recommmended to us by friends (including some of you) at home - many thanks.
On up to Oamaru tomorrow, and a chance to see the penguins close-up. Our whale-spotting record is as good as our dolphin record is poor; we'll see where penguins fit in.
On way up to Oamaru, we briefly stopped at Shag Point (map 74 ref 14 C ) just north east of Palmerston - and a plsce called Bushey ! - where we had close encounters with enormous seals, but really good was the brief stop further north at Moeraki Boulders (map 74 ref 14B). A very interesting sight on the beach of giant round boulders, - like a giant's marble game.
ReplyDeleteHow busy are the top ten campsites, - are you having to book ahead to be sure of a place? Is it obviously the holiday season with lots of rvs ?
Barbara and Brian