This week was a wonderful week in the life. In the end, I dropped the math class, and I think that was the right decision. All the stars are aligning for a relatively easy semester (4 courses, pass/fail, no math courses), and from here on out I am going to try to do a trip or hike every weekend, and to only do schoolwork between the hours of 9-5 during the week, that way I can really take advantage of this monumentous opportunity. Even this week I feel much more settled in and comfortable with everything (city, university, etc) and people (flatmates). I’m really looking forward to the coming weeks and I expect adventures to pick up in volume starting now!!


The highlight of this week was seeing yellow-eyed penguins (the 3rd largest species of penguin in the world) and the Northern Royal Albatross (the only mainland breeding colony in the world) on the Otago Peninsula yesterday (Sunday). The day involved leaving at 8am, taking the city bus for an hour from the start to the end of the line, and walking for 30 minutes to the albatross tour. I went with three of my flatmates (Aidan, Savage and Rory) and Emily.


We had great views of albatross chicks, caretaking parents, and even albatrosses soaring above. Albatrosses spend 85%+ of their time on the open ocean and only come to shore to breed. They have a wingspan of two to three meters. Now that’s a big bird.


Guarding parent and chick

Soaring albatross
After the albatrosses, we enjoyed the beach for a while, taking in the beautiful views. The albatrosses were not the only special birds we were going to see. In the late afternoon, we headed up towards the penguin tour place. We were hoping to see at least one penguin in the wild, and we did! We saw two moulting chicks, a pair resting on the hillside, and another sleeping on the ground. They were super cute :)
Chillin' like a villain

Resting under a shelter

Crested penguin

Penguins in the rehabilitation centre

Moulting penguin chicks -- note the head on the left hand side

Yellow-eyed penguins in the rehabilitation centre

A fur seal seen chilling on the rocks during the penguin tour

Two females (light brown) and a male (gray) sea lion on the beach during the penguin tour

After the penguins we took the last bus back to town and got home at around 8pm, so that was quite a long but enjoyable day. Here are some more photos of the beautiful views along the Otago Peninsula.

Otago Peninsula views

Walking to the Royal Albatross Centre

Beach where the penguins wash up every night

Taiaroa head (at the very end of the Otago Peninsula)

That's a cute sign
This week I also tried the famous Whittaker's chocolate (MMMMmmmMMMM, but so $7.5 per bar) and went to the well-known pint night at UBar (meh).
What a bus stop, am I right?

Life at the flat -- doors open, Megatron the cat visiting