We saw a Penguin!
Thursday 24 September
Well, if you came here looking for keas, you’ll be as disappointed as we were! Despite the comments in the NZMCA App enthusing about the naughty keas waking people up and hopping all over their vans at the Blue River (Moeraki) FC, it seems like they don’t perform to order! No kea, in fact hardly any bird song at all.
PS - proud of our new hanging arrangement for our hiking boots by the door - previously only used the hooks for summer shoes, but realised our boots had loops on the back so they hang perfectly! 🥾🥾🥾🥾
We packed up and backed up (under radio guidance) in our rocky spot then pulled out onto SH6 trekking north for about 20kms to Lake Paringa DOC Camp (yay for the DOC pass!). Since we were last here in November 2025, the space has been strictly marked out for overnight camping and we had to cancel and rebook as the slot we had booked was too shady. Originally we were up in the high water safety area by the shelter, but decided to relocate to 15 down by the lakeside which had much better views and solar potential.
Pretty quiet here, but cars and vans pop in at regular intervals to look at the lake and use the toilets! We only had 5 other neighbours overnight.
Settled in, had lunch, used the flushing toilets (yay) then retraced our steps about 25kms back towards the coast to check out Monro Beach. We’d had a chat with some locals about it and they were singing its praises.
A gentle walk, across a swing bridge then about 2km through rainforest, brings you out at a lovely stony beach which is noted as a breeding ground for Tawaki, Fiordland crested penguins. The forest was all green and mossy. Fascinating connectivity between the trees - growing off old root stock, with lumps and bumps, split trunks, arches and all sorts!
Monro Beach was bigger than we expected - look how tiny I am in the middle by the stream! We wandered over to the southern, lefthand end, to watch the waves crashing on the rocks and a big rocky pillar a bit further out in the bay.
It was absolutely fascinating for the variety of rock formations, markings and gorgeous sea washed pebbles. Mindblowing geology - tectonic uplift, fascinating folded rock, ancient marking from a prehistoric snail, fancy stripes, chunky rocks set into softer sedimentary rock, a sheet of rock that looked like hammered metal and the shiniest, prettiest coloured pebbles tumbled by the ocean - so much to see.
One of the rocks was covered in limpets, tiny shells and these bizarre fleshy yellow spirals. We thought they might be the remains of limpets whose shells have been washed away, but Google suggests not. With a bit of help from our friend Nickie and iNaturalist, I did some googling from her lead - apparently the spirals are egg masses laid by the striped “false limpets” or siphonaria - bizarro!
On the underside of one huge rocky shelf, the base layer was studded with small rocks and shells - presumably allowing water in over time and allowing the lower section to drop off onto the beach below. The markings on a chunk of rock on the beach under this section, were incredible - three different sets of stripes, all looking very different and heading in various directions. 🩶🤍💛
We walked over to the righthand, Northern end and Louis thought he saw something in the waves as we crossed the beach, but we stared and stared and didn’t see anything again. He squeezed through some rocks to look around the northern headland, but was a bit concerned about the unstable looking overhanging cliffs so scooted back real quick!
As we turned to return to the forest path, we spotted a wee black head bobbing in the surf and we stopped in our tracks as a little Tawaki, Fiordland crested penguin, came in on a wave, stood up, got bowled over, then stood up again and hopped up the beach where it stopped for ages to preen itself and presumably dry its feathers. I grabbed my camera and attached my zoom lens and just kept clicking!
After about 10-15 minutes, it continued up the beach to the rocky cliffs at the rear and proceeded to hop confidently up a familiar path, up, up, up, until we lost sight of it in the undergrowth about 10m above the beach! Wow - what a privilege to witness such an amazing creature out in the wild
I think our selfie gives some perspective on how good we were at keeping our distance! And we managed to point it out to two other beach visitors so that they could keep back too.
We walked back along the path in the rain, high on the excitement of seeing this wee Tawaki, and headed back to Lake Paringa where we settled into Banjo for the evening as the rain set in.
We crossed over Random Creek on our way home - when you run out of birds, trees, important people to name your creek after - this is the best you can come up with 🤣
Lamb chops for dinner and the very tense Vigil, Season 3 on the iPad then Louis got on with putting some original music to his videos.
What a day, no kea in the morning, but the plumptious Tawaki was the best consolation prize ever! 🥰🖤🤍💛
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