The Far South

In Fiordland Nat’l Park we travel by boat into glacially-carved Milford Sound one day, then Doubtful Sound the next. Cruising among the precipitous mountains, we are joined by dolphins both days. A group races with our boat, swimming faster and faster as we accelerate. After the dolphins leave, our captain congratulates everyone on snapping fine photos of water. He’s right. You had to be there.

Heading for the southern tip of the island we pause to watch herding dogs at work and to help the farmer shear a sheep. This is really sheep country, with large flocks dotting the hillsides, sometimes surprising themselves with an unexpected escape into the road. “Help help, we’re outside the fence; what shall we do?!!” Sheep are not the brightest of constellations….

Did you know that penguins come in several varieties? Neither did we, but we’re learning. Yellow-eyed penguins are endangered and reclusive. And climbers! They nest in steep hillsides, going out to sea each morning and returning each evening to their waiting chicks. We watch from a “hide.” We have photos, but we’d have to write: “See that white speck there? That’s a penguin halfway up the mountain.” The next night we watch blue penguins returning from a day at sea in churning packs of about twenty. In the shallows they pop upright like corks, then waddle inland. We count roughly 70 total. Later, as we walk back uphill, a quarter- to a half-mile in, we suddenly see three penguins directly ahead of us, heading into the bushes to their nests. Shortly afterward there’s another, solo, flustered by our presence. S/he works vigorously to enter the tall grass, and then we hear a lively penguin discussion going on about the “terrifying near miss with the humans.”

This is nesting time for the endangered albatross. They have a wingspan of about ten feet. Note the bird on the nest with a chick.




And of course, the ever-popular sea lions. We even see pups, including this one having lunch on Mama. (Fur seals are actually sea lions, too. Capt James Cook, who laid claim to most of NZ for England, misnamed quite a few things – including sand flies, which are actually voracious black flies with an itch that doesn’t quit!)

We hike out to a remote, windswept cape and find a sign announcing the southernmost point of the South Island. We’re lucky we aren’t blown off to Antarctica!