Curio Bay New Zealand – Yellow Eyed Penguins

Day Trip To Curio Bay

Back in 2008 when we were travelling through New Zealand, over what i can only imagine was a few beers and and a game of beer pong. In a hostel was said to be on New Zealand steepest Road (thats another story). A fellow traveler brought to my attention a little find of there’s they had recently been on called Curio Bay and the adjoining Porpoise Bay. Curio bay was known for the very rare yellow eyed penguin colony.

Intrigued we set of the next day from Dunedin to the far south of the south island in search of these rare penguins.

Location Of Curio Bay

2 hr 30 minutes drive from the South Islands second largest city Dunedin. A city known for its beautiful wildlife and rugged coastline

1 hr 10 mins drive from the small city of Invercargill. A city which is one of the southernly cities in the world.

As you can see below the bustling Town center of Curio Bay one street and surrounding woodland. Peace and quiet and a real sense of being in the wild.

Yellow Eye Penguins History

These penguins also known as Hoiho the moari term for yellow eyed penguin. Meaning “noise shouter” referring to there calls. This colony of penguins are endangered with around 6000 and 1700 breading pairs. They are largely found on the southern shores of the south island of New Zealand and very popular in Curio Bay.

Our Trip To Curio Bay

So where was I ?

Porpoise Bay

We got up at sunrise and headed down early. We had booked in at the hostel on the adjoining Porpoise Bay. The hostel was also a surf school (cant seem to find on maps assuming not there anymore). As the penguins only came in at night we arranged some surf lessons to keep us occupied during the day.

Curio Bay Dolphins

Surfing here was great fun and little did we know here on Porpoise Bay was another rare bread the hector dolphins. A dolphin known for only swimming in shallow shores and was delighted to catch this shot below with the dolphins playing in the surf and riding the waves.

They were not one bit afraid of us, when we were out they would swim up close and follow you through the waves.

These special Curio Bay dolphins were another rare endangered breed we were delighted to see these here in this relatively untouched area of beauty and in the own habitat.

Yellow Eyed Penguin Spotting

We settled back in after after our fun in the surf and were told to head down to the Curio Bay side as the penguins would come in an hour or so before sunset.

We got a place perched up on the rocks and waited patiently for any sign of these rare penguins.

It wasn’t long before we caught a glimpse, waddling along and hopping up the rocks. It was a slow process for these poor penguins going through this every night. A waddle a jump a waddle a jump almost like myself at 4am on a sunday morning.

The Penguins

I remember the distinct yellow colouring on them that stood out most. They seemed to keep there distance from any of us and of course we stood well back and respected there area and land.

We spent a good hour or so watching them come in, there would of been 100s waddling in for the night. We just sat back and soaked it all up and watched these beautiful creatures in the wild. Just doing what they do every day.

Below is a great photo of these beautiful penguins. Unfortunately we couldn’t get to close up and back in 2008 the camera wasn’t great. We did however get permission to use this.

Accommodation Tip

A stay at the Curio Bay Salthouse is a must with it’s self catering apartments, studios and sea views make it a restful and relaxing stay.

With its great hosts helping you on your way to a great stay with there fantastic local knowledge a real sense of this little community is felt here.

The apartments are clean, modern and well maintained, what more could you ask for.

Final Thought

My main tips are simple bring a camera, relax, enjoy the beauty of these species and dont forget to respect there space and land.

Ahhhhh memory lane i do really need to get back to these shores one day.

Apologies for the lack of quality photos this was some while ago.

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As always thanks for stopping by

Richard & Michelle