Goodbye to the Penguins

Hello all,
Today was a sloooow day. I had tweaked an old ankle injury and couldn't walk today. So, we wrapped it with Kinesio (magic) tape and I took a couple of homeopathic remedies and then I did the laundry. I limped around the grocery store with my walking stick and came back to catch up on internet stuff. Later, we hopped in the car and happened to find the Catholic Basilica and the last mass of the year, so we went in and sang for a while. When we left we went to the poorly maintained Oamaru City Gardens and dreamed our way through: we'd plant a stone garden here, trim the trees here, repair the stonework there, clean the lily pond--maybe they'd hire us to transform the place . . ..
We had dinner and then stood in the street outside the hostel yelling for Alex to come down and join us as we went out to be with the penguins again. The light was fading and we saw the first raft come in and slide belly first up the beach and then onto their feet. They waddled out to their nests and we waited for the next group that came up the rocky cliffs and we were lucky enough o hang out with a group of about 25 of them--one to two feet away. I am not a fan of the word "cute"; but in this case there is no other more fitting word. They are the sweetest little things and their calls are amazing. If you want to know what they sound like, google little blue penguins or fairy penguins sound clips. In total this evening, we probably saw 50 penguins. We said goodbye to them and dropped Alex off at the hostel and said goodbye to her too. We may try to rendezvous in Lake Tekapo for Christmas if we loop back down and try to see Mt Cook before leaving NZ. As we were driving out of the car park, we saw a lone penguin making his way down the street along the curb. He then hopped on the curb and accessed a cement ramp, tucked under a chainlinked fence and into a car repair parking lot to find his nest that could well be in an old tire. It is such a sight! Again, we feel so fortunate to be a witness of this strange migration. We got back to our place and my ankle is just about normal--thank you Ktape and Ruta Grav and Arnica! Tomorrow we leave for Geraldine and the Peel Forest and I am really hoping that I will be able to do the number of hikes that we have planned. Two days there and then onto a longer stay at the Flock Hill Station in Cantebury which will afford us access to Arthur's Pass, Castle Rocks, a number of alpine lakes and rivers, and various hikes. After that we are on the run without a plan--it will be weather dependent. Take care everyone. xo Linny