Taiaroa Head with our friend Alvin - the Zoologist with doctorate in penguinology! (All these photo's are his)

Last Sunday we decided to make the most of the high winds and go albatross spotting. As these photographs show we had a productive afternoon. For Maya the highlight was being shown a penguin in its burrow. She did confess that she was concerned it might bite her nose off when she put her head in to get a closer look.

This bull sea lion was enjoying a snooze, despite being lashed by sand in the strong winds.

Why do oyster catchers lift one leg when they are resting? - answer at end of post.

A fur seal makes his presence felt - you could almost smell him before you saw him.


Albatross are amazing creatures - the high winds resulted in a stunning display of aeronautics.


(answer - because if they lifted two they would fall over! :))