Albatross Colony - Otago Peninsula, New Zealand

Albatross wing span

We finally went out to the Royal Albatross Colony at Taiaroa Head, on the tip of the Otago Peninsula.
It is the only mainland breeding colony for any albatross species found in the southern hemisphere.

We have been putting it off because it is so expensive for us to go as a family, but finally a coupon on "Grab One" became available for half price.

* If you travel or live in NZ or Australia, Grab One is an awesome resource for getting half price deals on all sorts of stuff. Sign up online for free, then you get daily deals emailed to you -   Grab One Website

Baby Albatross (http://www.albatross.org.nz/images/homepic1.jpg0

ANYWAY! What is so great about a bird?  They roam farther than any animal on earth! The Royal albatrosses are masters of the air with a wing span that is 3.5 metres long!

  Albatrosses spend most of their lives at sea. They only come to land to make their nests and have babies!.

We were lucky that the Colony had 23 chicks being raised on the headland. They were fluffy, white and about 4 months old now. Their nest sites seemed a little pitiful to us. They have no shelter and were exposed to wind and rain. We watched the chicks sit patiently in their nests waiting for their parents to bring back food.

The kids holding "fake Albatross babies" to feel the weight. The older babies can weigh the same a the parents _10 kilograms (22 lbs)

Watching with Binoculars in viewing hut.

See the chicks in their nests exposed to the elements? HARDY!

It’s hard getting airborne when you’re so big.
That’s why albatrosses choose nest sites on cliff edges. They can take off on the wind that rises as it hits the cliff. Running start helps too since their wings do not have muscle in them. Their shoulder area holds the stregnth for the wings.




Surprisingly, they hardly flap their wings - mostly soar when flying. They are so highly efficient in the air, that they use dynamic soaring and slope soaring to cover great distances with little exertion. They feed on squid, fish and Krill. The birds scavenge the surface of the Sea by seizing or diving.

Alex and Ellie's height compared to the wing span of an Albatross

• The biggest of all, the Royal albatross, flies right around the southern oceans. The Tasman sea is one of the most nasty in the world. They even fly past South America and back to New Zealand across the "Roaring 40s.
Because there is little land below the 40th parallel south, the wind speeds are able to build more intensely than in the same region of the Northern Hemisphere.

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/photos.html

Taiaroa Head, on the tip of the Otago Peninsula.

We always have a great experience out on the Pensisula.
All our wildlife viewing activities have been free, so this was the first paid. I think we have been spoiled at Sandfly Bay with Sea Lions and Penguins.

Not sure if I would pay $40 an adult again to go to the viewing hut. We  learned all about the Albatross for free in the visitor center, which is fairly impressive. Also, nobody is promised to witness an Albatross feeding their babies, we acturally only saw an adult fly over us for a moment in the parking lot.

Leaving the Viewing Hut - this area is protected from predators. This is because New Zealand has been geographically separated from other land masses for over 80 million years so the native wildlife has evolved in isolation. Now much of New Zealand’s natural environment has been affected. Possums and Stoats are introduced predators that are reeking havoc on native species.

View from Hut toward Dunedin. The Otago Harbor

Taiaroa Head, on the tip of the Otago Peninsula.

I am going to miss watching the Sea churn below the cliff edges.

Watching the seaweed dance with the waves is like watching a campfire - Hypnotic!

Ellie enjoying the view

Lovers Leap and The Chasm, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand

John and I sneaked away mid week to check out The Chasm and Lovers Leap out on the Otago Peninsula. These jems are only 30mins from our home in Dunedin.

It was a super windy day, so you will notice wild hair! The tracks are located on Sandymount, which I found remarkable because I have never been on a mountian made of sand.

Map view

View of Allens Beach from Sandymount

  The hike begins along a spooky avenue of Macrocarpa pines to a gate by an old farm building. We followed the trail over farmland with a breath taking view of Allens Beach. This track leads directly to the Lovers Leap viewpoint, while a poled track to the left leads to the Chasm

John crossing farm land to Lovers Leap look out. 

John on Sandymount above Hoopers Inlet, NZ

These locations are very impressive, being sheer drops of 200m.
People should use extreme caution with children in these areas as cliff edges are unfenced.

John above The Chasm

The Chasm - Notice how windy the grass is. This geological area is remarkable!

The Chasm is similar although the sea no longer enters into the floor of the notch. It is amazing to me how easy someone could fall down the cliff edge. It looked like there was once a protective fence has been trampled to ground level. It seems now to serve as a potentially lethal cliff-edge trip wire.

Dont fall! Jen above the Chasm!

Other side view of Lovers Leap

The Lovers Leap track leads to a small viewing platform perched on the edge of the cliff.

The sea has carved a notch into the cliff here and tunneled out an arch.

I loved the Basalt columns are visible in the face of the cliff here. These are simular to the columnar basalt at the Organ Pipes on Mount Cargil near our home in the North east valley of Dunedin

View from Lovers Leap - Yikes!