State houses for penguins...

Claire and I booked to participate in a guided walk at Pohatu/Flea Bay, a fundraiser for the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust. Come the Saturday it was tipping down and the walk was postponed  to the following day, which dawned misty and damp. We drove across to Akaroa, met up with other trampers there and, in a small number of vehicles, negotiated the amazingly steep, narrow, unsealed and mist-shrouded Lighthouse Road. High above Pohatu we met up with Francis Helps, local farmer and conservationist who was to guide us down the steep valley, pointing out features of the native flora and fauna. (Pohatu/Flea bay in bottom right-hand corner).

The descent was muddy and slippery and we all came to grief at various stages, but the stream and bush were stunningly beautiful.

'My' part of Banks Peninsula (Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupo, the Port Hills, Mts Herbert and Bradley) is dry and has lost most of its original bush cover. So to find significant waterfalls in the gully was a surprise. The photo below shows Brooke (the BPCT employee who organised the walk and was a day-long bundle of joyful energy) pointing out tiny insects on a rock.

As we dropped below the bush and approached the old cottages at Flea Bay  the mist gave way to brilliant sunshine.

And here was the highlight of the day for me. Francis, Shireen and volunteers have built hundreds of little wooden shelters ('state homes' says Frances) for the white flipered penguins that frequent the bay. Some were in residence with their chicks while others (the adolescents maybe) bobbed about in the bay below, keeping company with a sleek, solo seal.

I couldn't wipe the grin off my face :-)