Christmas Vacation - Part V: Pohatu Penguins

We were first interested in Akaroa because we read you could swim with dolphins, but they were completely booked, so we didn't think we had any other reason to go here.  However, as I was searching for dolphin swimming companies, I came across a blurb about Pohatu Penguins, which is a family owned company whose primary business is the running of a sheep farm that just so happens to be in the middle of a penguin colony.

Years ago, the family noticed that the Australian Little Penguins living in their bay were struggling, and started rescuing them. The New Zealand Department of Conservation now assists them, but the family is still primarily responsible for the rehabilitation and rescue of the penguin population in this area.

They have a number of different tours, but the one that attracted our attention was the Pohatu Package, which includes a sight-seeing drive out to Flea Bay (the unfortunately named bay where the farm is located), the option of a 2-3 hour hike through the bush, an evening penguin tour, one night's accommodation, and an optional 2-3 hour sea kayak trip the next morning. The price was cheaper than a night of just sleeping in a hotel, so we leaped at the chance!

Our stay at Pohatu ended up being one of the highlights of our entire trip! Our private cabin was in the middle of a sheep pasture, and sheep do not stop baa-ing at night, but we would go back tomorrow if we could.

Embedded videos don't work on mobile devices, but if you click on this sentence you'll be taken to a video of what it sounds like to stay on a sheep farm. Does anyone else think sheep kind of sound like some guy is yelling at you?

We have no affiliation with Pohatu Penguins nor were we paid to write this review - we are just very enthusiastic, pleased patrons!  Bottom right is overlooking the Akaroa Harbour - one of the prettiest we've ever seen!

An amazing waterfall we passed on our hike down to our lodging - very glad we didn't drive all the way down, but also very thirsty at this point. We thought we had a stop before our hike started, so didn't pack enough water. By the time we reached the waterfall (2 hours into the hike), we didn't care whether or not it was safe to drink.

Some views on our hike, including our home away from home on the right of the bottom right picture.

I am not ashamed to admit that I chased a sheep down for a good five minutes to get this picture. #mysheepmatchesmyshirt

Some of the rescue penguins. Rescue ranges anywhere from hand feeding penguins that need more personal rehabilitation to providing safe boxes along the shore where penguins can go to malt and umm... be romantic together.

Our little penguin watching hut - built so they can't see you and you don't spook them. This guy is a yellow eyed penguin.  The bottom left shot was taken through binoculars - pretty cool!

Sea kayaking through Flea Bay

The many, many seals we saw.  The top left picture was taken without zoom - Rob accidentally steered the kayak a bit too close for comfort, and shortly after this picture was taken , the seal started growling and hissing at us while our guide frantically warned us to paddle quickly away.