![]() ![]() It looks much like a giant seagull, colored white with dark gray wings and back and large webbed feet and a wing-span of six feet. Outside, like this, reflecting on my day and watching the world's smallest penguin precariously going about its daily life, I'm convinced Dunedin is a wild place indeed.The laysan albatross is an impressive bird. As they make the journey to their grass burrows, some wander off course, some bumble past the twitching noses and sharp jaws of sea lions, while others fight to navigate their way around and over impossibly large rocks. Soon dozens of penguins swim to the water's edge in a tight huddle, eventually jettisoned on to the sand by a breaking wave. The first raft of six is spotted by Lyndon who points out a circular ripple in the inky-blue water metres offshore. As we wait, New Zealand fur seals (kekeno) and sea lions settle in the rocks and sand. It'll be black by the time rafts of tiny blue penguins (kororā) feel it's safe enough to wrap up their day at sea and come ashore. The sky is a layer cake of iridescent orange, yellow and grey. Photo / Dunedin NZ Fur seals and penguinsĪt 8.30pm, we don padded jackets and beanies and make our way outdoors again, down a well-lit path, to Pilot's Beach. Pretty soon, the cold chases us inside the Royal Albatross Centre for a short presentation and a cup of hot soup.īlue penguins come to the shores of Dunedin to roost for the night. One by one they lift off and take to the sky, their huge wings steering them out to sea then back to the headland. He knows exactly what they look like in full flight and guides us to a wooden viewing platform to point out the sculptural seabirds enjoying the last breeze of the day. ![]() Lyndon's spent much of his career researching and caring for them. Royal albatrossĪt Taiaroa Head, I'm hyped to see the world's only mainland colony of northern royal albatross. Driving the coastal road to Taiaroa Head, the last stop on the tour, we see two sea lions pulled up on land sleeping among tangled clumps of seaweed in easy view of nearby cribs and a cyclist wheeling by. Instead, we hang out next to sand dunes smothered in pīngao listening to Lyndon tell us how the golden sand sedge became known as the eyebrows of Tāne in Māori lore and raising his own bushy brows to illustrate the point. The beach is empty when we arrive, cameras at the ready, hearts pumping, munching on muesli bars and biscuits. Though, of course, you have to give them a wide berth (stay at least 10 metres away from sleeping sea lions, says DOC. Apparently, it's a great spot to spy sea lions (rāpoka). Our next stop is Allan's Beach, one of Dunedin's famous white-sand surf beaches, stretching nearly two kilometres along the coast. Sealions on the sands of Allan's Beach, Dunedin. Today, however, the population is healthier, with more than 2300 birds on record. In the late 70s, as few as 50 royal spoonbills called New Zealand home. Lyndon tells us a few decades ago we'd have been lucky to glimpse the bulky black-billed bird with the raucous white head feathers. From the van, we see spur-winged plover, bar-tailed godwits and, my favourite, the wacky-looking royal spoonbill. He explains the shallow waters and intertidal mudflats were once the traditional shellfish beds of Māori, but are now home to wading birds who come here to gorge on the bay's crabs, snails and shellfish. Travelling the flat unsealed road, Lyndon points out a family of violet-coloured pūkeko foraging near the roadside. By 17 he'd signed on with DOC, becoming an albatross ranger at Taiaroa Head at 19. Aged 7, he dreamed of working as a wildlife officer. On the drive to Hooper's Inlet, I realise Lyndon knows pretty much everything there is to know about Dunedin's birds and mammals. Australian coots can be found at Dunedin's Ross Creek Reservoir. ![]()
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