Diomedea epomophora sanfordi

Honestly I don't go in for astrology but today the planets lined up in my neck of the cosmic woods anyhow. I am feeling incredibly blessed. Let me count the ways:

First.
I woke up this morning feeling a bit aimless and overwhelmed by Dunedin--I just don't know where to start in cities. So I checked the NZ WWOOF site for farms in the area (so I could get the heck out of town!) and I found an interesting one in west Otago. It's a certified organic farm growing fresh herbs and produce and has about ten wwoofers. Crops include greens, leeks, squash, sweet peppers....This place sounds just like the California farm I wwoofed on last spring. I emailed the guy and he got back to me within 2 hours. I start tomorrow.

Second.
Given my sudden change of plans, I realized it was now or never for the Royal Albatross colony, so I booked the guided tour for 6 o'clock this afternoon. As you may be able to glean from the blip today, it was worth every penny!

The tour began with an orientation talk by the guide, followed by a film on the Otago peninsula's wildlife. Then we had about 15-20 minutes at the hide, a building with tinted windows set up amongst the albatross nests. The first chick of the year hatched just 4 days ago, and happened to be in the nest closest to the hide. Unfortunately dad never revealed the tiny chick he was sitting on, but we were very fortunate on this beautiful and almost windless day to see at least 3 birds gliding around and around and around the hide, providing absolutely amazing photo ops. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to both watch and photograph a gigantic albatross without being totally preoccupied with vomiting all over the place.

Some interesting facts I learned about albatrosses from our great guide:
- All but 4 albatross species breed exclusively on the islands of the Southern Oceans; each species nests in its own region
- Taiaroa Head (where the colony is) is the only mainland breeding colony of the Royal Albatross; the first record of a chick successfully hatching here was in 1938
- An albatross's heart rate is the same when sitting and when gliding, but triples while walking
- The Royal's wingspan is 3 meters (~9.5 feet), the second largest of any bird, just behind the Wandering Albatross's, which is 3.5 meters (~11 feet)
- Egg incubation is 11 weeks, among the longest of any bird
- Chick rearing in total (from the courtship period to the chick fledging) takes just over one year; parents will spend the next year living alone on the ocean, before returning to the same colony and to each other to breed again
- Once a fledged chick takes its first flight, it will not return to land for 3-6 years, at which point it selects a mate; mated pairs will not breed until both birds are 8-10 years old
- Pairs mate for life (with occasional divorces); a bird who loses its mate will take a few years to choose a new partner
- Average lifespan is 40 years

Fascinating!

Third.
I stopped in the tiny settlement of Portobello on my way back to Dunedin, just in time to get blue cod fish 'n chips from a hole in the wall called Ric's Galley. Ten more minutes and the place would've been closed. I tell you, it was the best blippin' fish 'n chips of my life. I would've paid 30 bucks for that fish, it was so good.

Fourth.
I returned to my cool old mansion hostel just before dark. I walked into my dorm and found...nobody. I have a 10-bed dorm to myself tonight.

Thank you, the universe. I owe you one.