I can’t believe that at this time last year I was packing for a trip to New Zealand and voting for Penguin of the Year. Well elections are on everyone’s mind in the US, New Zealand and beyond.  But advance voting has now begun for the Penguin of the Year. Personally I’m voting for Martin, but Dave is a close runner-up.

One of the many joys of New Zealand travel is the opportunity to see penguins in the wild without going to Antarctica. I was lucky to get close-up with groups of blue penguins like Martin in Fiordlands National Park and I was also able to see the very rare yellow-eyed penguins on the Otago Peninsula on the South Island near Dunedin. There are only a few thousand of the yellow-eyed aquatic birds in the world and many of them visit the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust each year. You can learn about them right here.

Dave