The young royal albatross seemed hungry so we fed it several slices of bread which it gobbled down but then sicked up. It swam around us for
about an hour but we didn't have any squid which is probably what it would
have liked.
A distinctive pied Hector's Dolphin came and played round the yacht. These small dolphins are among
the rarest, and this one was way out of their normal territory to
the south of NZ. Tiny blue penguins are common and amusing to watch darting around
underwater after fish. While walking on remote beaches we also came across two rare penguins, first some hoiho or yellow-eyed penguins, and then a tawaki, a crested penguin -
which must have been badly lost as it was in quite the wrong habitat.
Driving in the mountains at the snow line we were surprised to come across a
flock of large parrots. These were kea, the only alpine parrot. Inquisitive, they seem to love posing for photos. Until they fly you can't see the bright scarlet under their
wings. Other uncommon species we saw included Hooker's sea lions, Variable Oystercatchers, and elegant plumed Royal Spoonbills. We still haven't seen a kiwi in the wild though.
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