For the afternoon of May 27th, those of ISA that chose to attend the excursion, went out to the Otago Peninsula to go on a tour with Wildlife Encounters. It wasn't necessarily a great day for it, on and off rain the whole day, but we made the most of it. Wildlife Encounters loaded us up into these golf carts looking vehicles with tires like a four-wheeler, perfect for driving through the mud and the rain!
Our first stop was an outlook over a beach on the peninsula, I couldn't catch the name of it, but it was still pretty nice to see.
Some more rippin' and tearin' through the mud brought us to a fur seal breeding area. So many pups! I think seeing the fur seals is definitely one of my favorite things about the peninsula! They were so cute. One pup and its mom came over to the fence line to watch us, and another pup almost came under the fence to see us. The tour guide told us that sometimes the pups will come up to people and lay on their feet. I wanted this to happen so bad!
The mom and her pup watching us
This pup was right next to the fence!
Relaxing on the rocks
This pup almost came under the fence
After watching the seals, we went to a hide at a different location in an attempt to look for yellow-eyed penguins. Unfortunately, we didn't see any, BUT the guide did open a small window that was in the wall to show us some Little Blue Penguins in their burrows! I was so flustered at trying to get by quietly that I didn't even realize it, and missed my photo opportunity. We then piled pack into our all-terrain vehicles and made our way back to the center to head back to Dunedin.
It was a great way to end my semester with ISA, even with the rainy day, we all had tons of fun!
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