The Otago Peninsula is one of the few places to see the endangered Yellow Eyed Penguins, and one of the only mainland Albatross habitats in the world.  This is probably one of my favorite vacation days in recent memory.  When we were looking for a company to visit the Otago Peninsula with, I was asked if I was a “twitcher” because I wanted the opportunity to see penguins.

twitch·er

ˈtwiCHər/

noun

noun: twitcher; plural noun: twitchers

• a person or thing that twitches.
  British informal
• a birdwatcher whose main aim is to collect sightings of rare birds.

No, I don’t think I would go that far! However, I’m not going to say no at the opportunity to see Royal Albatross and Yellow Eyed Penguins, Seals, Sea Lions, and tons of other birds!  That’s awesome.  We saw so many more birds than I could have even imagined.  The day wasn’t just about the birds; the Sea Lions were a definite hi-lite of the day.

To see the Albatross, we went to the Royal Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head on the Otago Penninsula.  The centre is the only mainland place in the world to view these enormous birds.

The teeny tiny Yellow Eyed Penguins were on the opposite end of the size spectrum.  They actually walk up from the beach (near the Sea Lions who very well could eat them!) up the sand bank into the longer grassy areas to nest.  It was quite the trek for these little waddling birds.

If you’re in New Zealand, and wondering whether to visit or not, take the opportunity.  It was fantastic.

~j