Goodbye New Zealand

After Doubtful Sound, we journeyed to Dunedin where we woke up while it was still dark to meet our guide at 5:00 a.m. for a trek up and over the dunes and across a long beach to watch rare yellow-eyed penguins on their daily journey to the sea. They will return at dusk, hopefully with food to feed their young. Later in the morning we met our second guide for a nature tour of Otago Peninsula which ended in Taiaroa Head where Northern Royal Albatross are breeding in the only mainland breeding colony of any albatross species in the world. It was exciting to watch these beautiful birds in flight and see the females sitting on their nests. Our New Zealand trip ended in Auckland where we said goodbye to Hugh and Georgia, the best of travelling companions.