Penguins at Roaring Bay

Penguins may be watched at different locations. One of these locations is Roaring Bay at Nugget Point, which belongs to the coast of the Catlins.

There's not much accommodation at Nugget Point, so I had to stay at two different places. One on a rock at the sea with a superb view of the sea and another one with a garden that can't be praised enough.

That's one of the rewards for getting up early

I went to Roaring Bay several times. The problem is that you can see the penguins only in the morning and in the late afternoon. There aren't guided tours and this fact creates a problem. There's no one looking that rules are observed.

As you can see here with this idiot, who climbs down to the beach despite notes telling not to do so (Nov.-Jan.: Chick rearing -: "Keep off the beach at all times"). He is obviously disturbing the penguins.

There is a a hut for observing, but during the afternoon, especially, when the weather is fine, it gets crowded in there. I went there in the morning and could watch 16 penguins with no one else around. The price for this is getting up at 5 a.m. The species is called yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes). Inside the observation hut there are some interesting charts explaining, what you should know about the penguins and how the penguins breed. Or this fact: "Penguins can sleep standing up or lying down"; did you know this?

Other texts on this New Zealand travel:

New Zealand Itinerary with Annotations and Pictures http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/12/blog-new-zealand-itinerary-with.html

Little Blue Penguins at Pohatu Marine Reserve http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/01/little-blue-penguins-at-pohatu-marine.html

New Zealand Haiku First Series: http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/01/new-zealand-haiku-first-series.html

New Zealand Haiku Second Series http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/01/new-zealand-haiku-second-series.html