So when I heard that there are Penguins in New Zealand my new mission was to spot some. Along the southern east coast are a few spots we tested and we can proudly say that we found our favourite!
Fortrose Lookout
I had to look really closely to figure out that these birds are NOT Penguins, but I guess somewhat close related to them.
The lookout itself did not call for any Penguins or Seals, it is pretty beautiful tho and definitelly worth a visit!
The whole coast is visibly and with a little luck maybe whales!
Waipapa Point
Waipapa Point was our first stop to spot seals (besides the viewing in Westport a few Weeks ago).
Waipapa Point was our first stop to spot seals (besides the viewing in Westport a few Weeks ago).
Waipapa Point has some serious tree action going on and a beautiful light house.
Sadly there is nothing to see besides these birds! If anyone knows what kind of birds these are please tell me in the comments below!
Cannibal Bay
If you want to see sea lions this is the place to go! The access is via gravel road (so make sure you are allowed to drive on gravel if you are renting a car!!)
The Beach itself is beautiful for a walk, but there are sealions everywhere and they are quite hard to tell apart from wood or Stones. I nearly ran into the one in the picture above thinking it was wood! When I realized that the wood had a face I was way closer then 5 meters and slowly and quietly stepped back a bit.
Make sure to keep a minimum distance of 5 meters to not disturb them and more importantly keep yourself safe!
Most of them were dazing on the beach, not moving at all!
One of them came out of the water, it looked like a small dinosaur or maybe a small version of what the monster of Loch Ness is supposed to look like. It was able to walk way faster than I thought!
Nugget Point
Nugget point does not only have a yellow eyed penguin Colony, but also a beautiful lighthouse and lookout! Make sure to visit both!
The Penguins can be viewed from an observation shelter in order to not disturb or scare them.
It is not alowed to access the penguin beach so the shelter is your best option, however it is a little hard to see from inside! We were still able to spot two penguins.
Shag Point
Next up was Shag point. If you want to see seals really closely this is your stop! You can see them way closer then in Westport, allthough we did not see any of them active (playing in pools etc.) since they all seemed to be sleeping.
Even the small ones chilled on the rocks, one of them looking at us for a few minutes before going back to sleep. I would love to live a seals live (besides the fact that they live in fear of killer-whales and sharks).
Katiki Point
If you want to see seals, penguins and whales Katiki Point is the place to be. We were greeted by a few seals dozing in the sand.
We even saw a Sealpup trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in between rocks and not really succeeding, it was the cutest thing to watch.
The older seals seemed to have a lot of fun rolling in seagrass.
And then there were the penguins!
We were able to see them clumsily jumping out of the water and drying off.
It was amazing to watch them communicate and too cute to watch them waddle around.
We called this group the penguins of Madagascar, because look at them, they are definitely planning some kind of mischief!
When waddling along we had the impression that they were waving at us, but that was mainly them walking.
Watching them was just so much fun. I mean look at that! It looks like to teenage kids are screaming at their dad for some reason, the dad tells them off, they walk away.
Long story short Katiki Point was awesome! Definitely worth a visit! On our way back we saw a whale breaching a few times further out in the ocean, we were not able to take a picture tho.
If you want to see the New Zealand wildlife make sure to visit Kaitiki Point and Cannibal Bay on your travels!
I hope you liked this blogpost! Make sure to leave all your commenst and questions in the comment section below! For more pictures follow me on my social media, links are in the top bar.
I hope you are all having an amazing weekend
Love: Kiki
Die Vögel könnten Kormorane sein :)
ReplyDeleteund ich feiere das vorletzte Pinguin-Bild :D :D
Dachte ich auch, nachdem ich an Pinguine gedacht hab 😂 Aber es sind elsterscharben.. Die gibt es anscheinend nur hier unten, ziemlich cool 😂
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DeleteIch glaube, dass es Elsterscharben sind :)
ReplyDeleteJaaa!! Ich dachte auch zuerst an Kormorane weil man die aus Deutschland kennt, aber die kommen weder in Asien noch in der Antarktis vor, also auch nicht in Neuseeland. Den bilden nach sah es auch eher nach Elsterscharben aus (trotzdem sehen die Pinguinen auf den ersten Blick total ähnlich) 😂😂
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