Attack of the Fur Seal

After an early start this morning, we all piled into the Gator Waka and made our way towards Oaumaru! We made a quick stop at a very long flying fox and everyone got in on the action (including Dr. Hostetler and Dr. Meurk!) Of course, our next stop was tea time at Coffee Culture in Timaru.

We finally reached Oamaru just in time for lunch. We ate lunch around the Gator Waka then went for a short walk down the beach to explore the Moeraki boulders. Our timing was perfect for viewing the almost perfectly round rocks, and we had quite a few interesting things happen while we were there! We encountered a young fur seal resting on one of the boulders and Tupelo led the transformation of a pile of driftwood into a very impressive teepee. 

We stopped by our gorgeous backpacers (it has foosball AND a view of the ocean!) then headed back out to explore the Steampunk HQ museum in downtown Ouamaru. Steampunk is based on the Victorian era idea of the future, if electricity had never been invented. The origin of steampunk ideas can be found in the book “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Vern. The museum was full of interesting things, including a steampunk pipe organ, steampunk themed goggles and dress up clothes, recycled metal native New Zealand animal sculptures, and “The Portal”, a trippy experiment in lights and mirrors. 

Then, in town, we enjoyed a steampunk themed playground for half an hour, where the most popular attractions were a VERY steep slide and a hamster wheel. 

Next was the most exciting part of the day!  We went to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony to watch the penguins come back to their nesting boxes after a long day of fishing.  Little blue penguins are the smallest penguin species in the world, growing to a height of 30 cm and a weight of 1 kg. Unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to take pictures of the penguins because it may disturb them. Before the penguins arrived, we watched a few large fur seals resting on the rocks. The penguins were incredibly adorable and pretty clumsy as well. They fell a lot, but it was always cute! We got to see a total of 153 little blue penguins! About halfway through our time watching the penguins, I heard a commotion. A very large fur seal decided that the bleachers where visitors were sitting to the left of us looked like a more comfortable resting  place, so he climbed over the fence! Many people moved far away from the fur seal, and a lot of people completely left. The fur seal definitely tried to steal the show! 

After our interesting experience with penguins and fur seals, we went to Scott’s Brewing Co for supper. We all got delicious pizzas! 

Now we’re all back at the hostel and hanging out for a little while before heading off to sleep. 

Until next time, 

Eliza