Incoming!!!

Albatrosses are big!!! With a wingspan of about 3.5 metres!! This blip is straight out of the camera and he landed about 3 metres away from me, I couldn't quite get him all in!!!

The day started with a siren sounding about 3 am and the sound of a car driving off. The manager of the motel is a reserve fireman and there was a stubble fire up the coast that they had to attend to. Not surprised as it has been so dry for days / weeks.

We set off on the Albatross encounter at 9am, a good choice of time as the weather was beautiful & the sea had a 2 metre swell. The boat headed out to sea (5 miles off land) and stopped twice to hang out a basket of fishy bits (tasty morsels for birds) off the back. It was awesome sight to watch the birds that came in to feed. There was nothing smaller than the size of a pigeon at home and the majority bigger than a very big turkey!!!

For the knowledgeable blippers there were Great Albatross, Albatross, Petrels, Shearwaters, Shags, Skuas, Terns, & Gulls!!! I need to work out what I've captured before uploading them to Flickr. I think that this is a Gibson's Albatross.

There was a great deal of squabbling within the species, but the big boys didn't attack the smaller birds. Most of the time the birds bobbed up and down serenely about a metre away from the boat.

On the return trip we saw young (3 months old) New Zealand fur seals on the rocks and brief glimpses of Dusky dolphins and Hector's dolphins. An excellent trip.

Thanks to K's advice I had the correct lens on my camera, a 18-270 mm. Ladies you said this would be a good trip, it was brilliant!!!

We had booked to do a whale watching trip this afternoon, but it was cancelled due to pending weather conditions. At the time the weather looked OK to us, but 3 hrs later it is tipping with rain and the winds are gusting!! A wise decision. Just hope that the rain is falling where the farmers desperately need it!!

We have had an afternoon off, caught up on some sleep and done bits and pieces. We are too old to do full on every day!!!

We did do the whale watching trip on our last visit, so cannot complain!!