Otago Peninsula Wildlife Wonders

Aug 2, 2025
2 min read

Monday 21 July

My Monday Facebook report was a little late - I had over 300 photos so it took a while to sort through them!

The Fernandi had stayed out at Larnach Castle on Sunday night so we drove out across the Otago Peninsula to meet them there and go exploring. The route out on the heights of the southern side of the peninsula afforded some stunning views.

At Larnach the gatehouse was surrounded by adorable white snowdrops - does this mean spring has sprung?!

We convoyed across to Portobello (more incredible vistas along the way) where we paused for coffees & yummies.

From here we pressed on to Harington Point at the end of the peninsula - home to albatross, sea lions and blue penguins. We were beguiled by the massive swirling kelps along the shoreline below the albatross’ cliffs, and spotted a couple of sea lions hanging out on the rocks.

At Pilot Bay we marvelled as a huge container ship slipped in through the heads, making its way to Port Chalmers, watched by a beautiful albatross soaring overhead.

Nickie was keen to visit Allen’s Beach so we set off cross country to find the bay.

Fortunately I grabbed my canon camera as we immediately came across two snoozing sea lions as we got to the beach. So beautiful!

Took a lovely stroll along the beach, encountering oyster catchers, grey herons and a floofed up gull along the way. We may not have seen any penguins, but there were definitely tracks heading up to the dunes all along the top end of the beach.

The wild, wide open bay was absolutely stunning - with soft silky grey sand that the seals blended into beautifully. The only sadness was that there was a large dead sea lion washed up part way down the beach with its eyes pecked out - such a tragic sight.

But then happily there was another sea lion who was very much alive and seemed very blasé about his allure as he scratched and stretched and generally gave me the best photos ever!

Nickie and I went for a chilly paddle and recorded the moment as "Dibbling for Debbie" - Nickie's sister in the UK. I love the arms out in horror stance in the middle of the paddling triptych!