text and photos: Xavier
yellow eyed penguin at the center of the photo
blue penguin
video
At the Brighton beach there are some signs about the eventual existence of penguins and seals in this beach so i woke up at 5h30m to try to see something while everyone is sleeping.
I went to the beach and nothing, instead i saw the sun coming out of the horizon, another beautiful sunrise, after this moment i said to myself, i’ve got get some sleep so i went to the van and slept until 8 a.m.
Our plan was to return to Te Anau this day to book the campsites to do the Kepler Track in 3 days, it was already open.
But our desire of watching penguins was much bigger so we thought about giving ourselves a last chance by going north one hour to the Otago Peninsula.
Once there we went until the end of the road, from that point everything is private, there is a company called Natures Wonders, they make private tours in a small buggy for 99NZD per person for a maximum of 6 people, and some bus tours per 49NZD, the mister assured me that if we would make the tour we will see penguins, it was about 11 a.m. and the next tour would take place at 11h30m, there was still 4 available places.
1 minute of reflection and that was it, sometimes you gotta say, f.ck the money!!! This is a lifetime experience, it’s not a zoo.
So at 11h30m we started the one hour guided tour, awesome views of the whole península before going down to a beach where no men set foot for 20 years, they are doing an amazing work of conservation.
First we stopped next to a colony of seals and we had a chance to appreciatte the dynamic of the colony just in front of your eyes, our guide was Darren who gave us information, we saw a sea lion sending signs to another male that wanted to try his luck, we saw cubs with one year, seals of all ages, only that was a breathtaking experience!! The 99NZD per person were already payed!
Then we walked 1 minute to the lookout of the magnificent untouched beach, everything normal until there, then he point his binocullars and called us one at a time, there it was, a yellow eyed penguin standing, the rarest penguin on earth.
Then we walked through a tunnel of wood where there was some closed windows, he oppened one of those windows, just behind that window there was a blue penguin with her cub, just like that, like a one metre distance, once again this is not a zoo, they are in their natural habitat, we were completely intimidated by having the chance of seeing so close those spectacular animals, too much emotion.
After that we returned to the reception and we stayed without words for an hour, time to digest the experience.
It’s an experience that we totally absolutelly recommend, a must do.
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