Penguins in New Zealand? Yep!

Sooo now for what we did today. I decided to just do a totally different blog. Most of the day wasn't that exciting because it basically consisted of driving...driving and just when we thought we were done...more driving.
We got up in Mt. Cook National Park at around 9 a.m., got breakfast and headed out to hike. It was gorgeous again today. The sun was out, it was clear (they said it had been raining and stormy for the past two weeks and people have left without seeing anything) and it was HOT. We decided to go on a 2 1/2 hour hike up through "Hooker Valley" which was a perfect time for us. We went over a few bridges, crossing over a fast moving river beneath us and eventually got to a lookout point where you could overlook the valley with the mountains on all side. It was beautiful of course! We hiked back (it seemed to take longer than how long it took to get there ha) and we hit the road. We were on our way to Dunedin, a town further south and near the East coast of the island.
This drive seemed to take FOREVER. I feel bad because I can't help my mom out by driving because you have to be 21 to drive a rental car. The scenery is beautiful, but after driving for 4 1/2 hours or so, the hills and the sheep and the blowing grass seem to be never ending when you just want to lie on a bed. We passed through multiple really cute, small towns that I could never imagine living in. They just pop out of no where amongst the mountains...so different than Naperville! We saw another beautiful blue lake but other than that it was the sheep and us for miles. Dunedin always seemed to be that much farther. In one town we saw some high school girls walking home from school...it seems like every school, no matter if it's public or private, have to wear uniforms. These girls were wearing mid calf-ankle plaid skirts with collared shirts. They were not the most attractive things ever that's for sure! Anyways, we eventually started driving along the coastline and got to see the water which was a nice change of scenery, and after about 30 minutes we saw Dunedin. It's right on the water, in a little bay area and is really cute!
We checked into our hotel, but then realized that we should go drive out to the Otago Peninsula where you can see sea lions, seals, an Albatross Colony (type of bird) and Yellow eyed penguins! The last tour for the penguins was at 7:15 p.m. and it took an hour to drive out there (it was 5:30 at this point). We had no time to rest because we had to get out there. Our drive to the end of the peninsula was a windy, scary one. The road is right on the water, with sharp turns and people going fast. We had time to spare before our penguin tour so we saw the Albatross colony, which is out on this cliff with hundreds of birds flying over head and landing all over the cliff and surrounding grassy area. The sea lions were also far below on rocks..you could barely see them because they blend in so well! It was still neat though..it's not some thing you see everyday that's for sure. Next was our penguin tour. I didn't really know what to expect, but I had heard we needed to check it out. Apparently at dusk is when the adults come back from the water where they have been collecting food all day to feed their chicks, so we were hoping to see some coming out from the water but according to Rhonda our guide, no tour is never the same and you just can't expect anything. What she did know for sure is that we would see the chicks because they don't move, only the parents go out. We went out with 6 other people. They built these underground look out things where you can look out but not disturb the penguins. These types of penguins are solitary and do not like to be in big groups. They are loyal to their mates, but they do not hang around the other penguins which is different than any other types of penguins. We we traveled and walked around looking for chicks and their parents. We saw 2 adults and two chicks before we came upon 5 in one area...3 of them in the water. One of the chicks was practicing swimming and doing all kinds of crazy stuff in the water. It was actually really cute and entertaining! We were all laughing at him. He was going crazy while his mom just floated next to him. Apparently Rhonda, who has been on 1000 tours, has never seen a chick swim like that. So Rhona called our tour "a winner". I trust Rhonda. We headed up to a higher point after watching those ones swim for awhile to see if we could see any coming out of the water from the day out at sea. We saw two of them on the beach and some seals and then we actually saw one come walking out of the sea! It was so cool! We didn't know if we would actually see one and we did. So neat. We also a cute little chick on the path we were walking on. It was the youngest one and still was quite fluffy :)
We drove back to the hotel, realized we needed food, and drove to Pizza Hut and McDonalds...again. It seems we go there often. It's our third time haha Now, we're in our room. My mom is asleep and I'm here typing and ready to go to bed! Miss you all!