03/02/2018 - Wallaby Farm and Little Penguin Colony

After an unplanned, extended stay in Timaru, we continued our journey south of the South Island yesterday.

In New Zealand, cars must be regularly re-registered in addition to having a valid WOF (Warrent of Fitness), the New Zealand equivalent of an MOT. Our registration was coming to an end, so we had to visit VTNZ (Vehicle Testing New Zealand) to renew it. Conveniently, one of their branches was located in Timaru. Upon arrival, we filled out the appropriate form and extended the registration of our Mazda for another nine months. With that done, we started our tour.

The next destination was Oamaru, 85 kilometers away. During the drive, we made a stop as we often do. But this time, Tobi chose a very special one. Personally, I only knew that we would make a stop. I didn't know exactly where we were going or what we would do there until we arrived. - We drove to Waimate, a small town located between Timaru and Oamaru. Before the last curve, I had to close my eyes because a sign revealed the destination. After rounding the corner, I was allowed to open my eyes and be excited about what we would see soon. No coast in sight, just flat land with a few houses here and there. We turned into the parking lot and I read the sign: "Wallaby Farm". We actually made our today's stop at a Wallaby Farm. We parked the car and went to the entrance. On site, we were greeted by a large family and a busy owner named Gwen. Every visitor is asked to put on one of the provided crocs to protect their own shoes from getting dirty. After everyone had found a suitable pair of shoes, we went straight to the farm. But before visiting the Wallabys, we were instructed in a very sympathetic manner on how to deal with them and how to best feed them. For this, the children of the family and a father had to play the role of the Wallabys. Gwen demonstrated to us and everyone else how it works: "Hello Wallaby, do you want some food?" - forming hands into a bowl and let the Wallaby eat. She also let us know that we can stroke the animals on their back. However, we have to announce this beforehand: "Wallaby, I'm gonna scratch you." After everyone understood it, there was nothing standing in the way of the adventure.
The farm is huge and divided into different "enclosures". To get to the next one, fences have to be moved. It is very important that none of the Wallabys change or leave their enclosure. That was sometimes not so easy, as they are very curious. But don't worry - each Wallaby stayed in its own zone. :)
We were all provided with bags of food and the fun could begin. The Wallabys knew exactly how it works. When you entered one of their enclosures, it didn't take long until they hopped towards you. They didn't hesitate to jump up on you. We put some food pads in our hands and crouched down - just like Gwen and the kids showed us. Soon, several Wallabys were around us, eating from our hands. It happened quickly. So we put some pads in our hands again and they were gone just as fast.
We explored the whole farm and passed different enclosures - some were more intrusive, others less. The enclosure with the inscription "Bachelor Boys" kept us particularly busy. The young males were very eager for food. But all in all, it was a lot of fun and it's nice to know that the Wallabys have found a recognized place here. Because that's not the case everywhere in New Zealand. Wallabys are seen as a pest - they don't belong here. Again and again, you can see signs asking you to call a hotline if a Wallaby is spotted in the wild. The responsible ranger will take care of it ... - while the little hoppers are so cute!
After our bag of food was empty, we returned to the entrance. As a conclusion to our visit, Gwen had a little surprise for us. She asked us to sit on two chairs and wait for a moment. When she returned, she had a small black bag in her hand and put it directly in my lap. It was immediately clear: This is a Wallaby baby! The little cute creature, well and warmly wrapped in the bag, repeatedly hid its head in the fabric sack. But every now and then, it looked out to see what was going on. We certainly don't need to explain to you what a highlight that was for us. :) Suddenly, things happened very quickly and Gwen took the little Wallaby baby back from us. To explain why it had to go so quickly - the baby had to go to the toilet and apparently it was too late last time.
In conclusion, we think that the Wallabys are well taken care of here. Because as much as they are not welcome in New Zealand, they are very cute little animals.
But now swiftly to Oamaru. The campsite is located directly on the waterfront promenade. Not far away, Little Penguins also come ashore here in the evenings. It must be said that Oamaru is an absolute tourist hotspot compared to Timaru. Here, you are guaranteed to see the little penguins. The reason for this is a fenced-off area that can be entered for a fee in the evenings. Around the nesting sites of the Little Penguins, grandstands have been built. Every evening, paying tourists sit there. Of course, it gradually gets dark at sunset, so large spotlights accompany the penguins as they climb out of the sea and reach their nests. We are not particularly thrilled about it. However, it must be said that the penguin population has increased thanks to this institution and it better controls the tourist crowds. Since we are not interested in this "show" at all, we decided to observe the animals from the shore. Because they don't only come ashore in the fenced-off area, but their nests are scattered along the harbor basin. - Our campsite is rightly called "Penguins Nest", because sometimes they even walk past the campervans parked there.
We set off around 9:00 PM and soon we could see the first Little Penguins. The city has built a small tunnel for the penguins to waddle through so they don't have to cross the busy road. (This road leads to the "stadium"; all tourist buses use it.) We stood at a wall for a while. From here, we had a good view of the penguins. It always takes them a moment to come out of the water and straighten their feathers. Unfortunately, some other visitors couldn't resist taking photos of the animals with flash. A voluntary helper kept coming and kindly reminded people not to do this. As it got later and the "show" in the fenced-off area was over, some ugly scenes unfortunately occurred. Three penguins were trying to cross the road. Some tourists didn't hesitate to approach the timid animals aggressively to take a nice photo of them. When the penguins anxiously hid in a hedge, more and more large tour buses left. During the short breaks until the next bus arrived, the frightened animals tried to cross the other side of the road. But again and again, onlookers got in their way. Despite repeated, loud, and now clearly more aggressive shouts of "Stop!" from the volunteer helper, a few, mostly Asian, tourists simply didn't want to understand. We could only watch in disbelief. What a torture these poor animals have to go through every evening just to reach their nests and chicks. We were very shocked after these scenes and would have liked to put on a safety vest ourselves to restore order. When all the cars finally left the parking lot, hardly any other visitors were present, and the situation slowly calmed down. The penguins could now move around more freely. From a sufficient distance, we watched the hustle and bustle for a while longer. Around 11:00 PM, we strolled back to our campsite.

This morning, we were a little frozen for the first time. A quick look at the phone showed an outside temperature of 8 degrees. As we like to open the windows slightly overnight, you can imagine how cold it was inside the car. But after a warm shower, a hot tea, and a delicious breakfast, we felt much better and were ready to start the day.
We started with the playground, which is right next to the campsite. We tried out a high cable car and a steep slide. Then we continued to the city center of Oamaru. It shines with many old buildings that indicate the city's prosperous past. The city was known for its trade in frozen meat.
After a short stroll through the beautiful "Harbour Street", we returned to the car. We drove to a wild beach, which is located a little outside of the city. Unfortunately, we couldn't reach "Bushy Beach" because a landslide made the official hiking trail impassable. So we only walked to two viewpoints from where you can observe fur seals during the day and much larger yellow-eyed penguins in the evening. Then we couldn't miss a visit to the botanical garden. It was beautifully designed. We spent a good two hours in this green oasis and picked some rosemary for our dinner at the end. :) Before driving back to the campsite, we wanted to take another look at the fenced penguin colony. Because during the day, access to the "stadium" is free. On-site, we could see how it was set up. We saw the aforementioned grandstands, spotlights, and the artificial nesting boxes of the penguins. Even then, we were not completely convinced by the concept. We also watched three fur seals fascinated as they found a comfortable spot for a nap in this area, before heading back towards the campsite. On the way, we also saw a large colony of cormorants on an abandoned jetty. About 300 birds were sitting here in a confined space, and accordingly loud was the screeching.
In the evening, we started cooking a little earlier than usual because we wanted to make something "more elaborate". So we used two hotplates for a while. (For this, it should be known that the entire campsite only has four hotplates.) We had meatballs with mashed potatoes and almond broccoli - yummyy! :)
We decided not to go to the little penguins again. Instead, we went to bed early with full bellies because tomorrow we will continue our journey.