It is also the home of the penguins who nest in the limestone cliffs behind the wharfs

As usual the NZ’s have made this a ’must do’ for tourists by building two viewing buildings like small grandstands, ideal for the cruise liner hoards, between which the penguins can walk when coming ashore.

We, and a few others, thought we might see more if we stayed away from there and instead loiter amongst the old wharf sheds.

The penguins nest in the limestone cliffs and having hatched their young they waddle down to the sea and swim out about 6 miles to catch squid, spratts and other small fish. At dusk they return and this is when they become a tourist attraction. As it grew dark we watched the shore line intently having chosen our spot by a concrete boat slipway—we thought this would be an easy landing point for them. Having survived their predators at sea, whales, sharks etc they swim back and foregather about 500 metres out to prepare for the swim ashore—safety in numbers.

The rules are that there should be no flash cameras, the access must be kept clear to enable them to waddle by unimpeded and there must be silence. This was a tall order for a coach load of Japanese who arrived with iPads, smartphones and cameras big and small. 

they are surprisingly small, under two feet, and waddle in a stooped way

they are called fairy penguins in Australia

the noise of the young from the nests became increasingly loud as they called to their parents demanding to be fed the regurgitated fish.

We did not see the yellow eyed penguins as their colony was further down the coast so that is saved for another day.

We freedom camped about 15km down the road and arrived in the pitch dark at what looked like a suitable spot——daylight would tell us how suitable!