Todd's New Zealand Birthday: Portobello & Penguins

Saturday was Todd's 37 birthday...at least here in New Zealand.  Our US-based friend Julie Choe Kim wrote on his Facebook wall "Happy birthday, Todd! Don't you love getting bday greetings legitimately for two solid days?"  She was so right!  We celebrated here on Saturday, and he received lots of birthday wishes on Saturday and Sunday (for us...Friday and Saturday for the States).

We started the day with brunch with our friends Lynnette and Deb. Deb grew up in Silver Spring, MD!  I met her at a local jewelry gallery, and we've had lots of fun with her and Lynnette ever since.

 

Late afternoon, we headed out to the peninsula to Kitty and Dan's house for a BBQ and penguin watching.  In addition to Kitty and Dan, we were joined by Vanessa's (and now our) friend Anna, who writes a hilarious blog for the Otago Daily Times, and Dan's friend Neil.  We had delicious Korean BBQ, secret recipe courtesy of the aforementioned Julie Choe Kim and all took turns at the grill. 

Elena, Todd, and Anna - the only person who wore the suggested penguin costume in honor of the evening's activities.

Todd and Dan (and Neil in the background) grilling

Me grilling and pointing to the campground...more on NZ campgrounds in future blog posts.

 Our hostess and my fabulous colleague, Itty Bitty Kitty.

Vanessa at the grill

After some cake, we headed out to the end of the peninsula for penguin watching!!  It was AMAZING!!  At dusk, cute little (and I mean 6" tall...tiny!) blue penguins come in from the ocean and head up the beach and back to their holes in the hillside.  Volunteers are there to keep the public (us) from touching the penguins and to be penguin spotters.  We also can't use flash photography, so our low-tech cameras were out.  You'll have to just read about them.

It's the coolest thing ever.  It's kinda dark, but in the water you can see this ripple moving toward you.  As it gets closer, you see that it's 8 moving objects.  As it's almost to the shore, it seems to divide again, and all of the sudden, it's 16 moving objects, and 16 penguins are on the shore.  The observation point is above the shore, so we wait a few minutes, and then there is a group of penguins at the top.  

They move like a SWAT team!  There seem to be a couple of guard penguins that stay at the top the whole time.  Once a large enough group has arrived, they start moving out.  One goes and then a couple seconds later, the next one goes and so on and so forth.  You'll see little lines of 4 to 6 penguins waddling across the sandy hill.  Elena thinks they say to each other "Keep your belly down!," because you can barely see their little white bellies.

In the viewing area, the volunteer told us that if we sat down and sat still, they might walk by us...AND THEY DID!!! Two walked within 3 feet of Elena and I, and later, a group of 4, walked right next to where we were all sitting.  They are so tiny and so cute, and it was so cool!! We're thinking it will be even cooler (and easier to see) on a full moon or clearer night.  

If you're coming to visit us (Katie and Jim, Mom and Dad), consider an evening of penguin watching on your itinerary!