After our short hike we were driven to the top of the valley and dropped off. On the way we saw a sign for Mikalas Mistake. We’d seen lots of places here called “mistakes” and somehow became convinced that the word mistake could be a noun. So I asked Shireen what the definition of the word mistake was. After a little hesitation she told me it was when someone attempted to do something but did not do it correctly. It was a little embarrassing but pretty amusing to all of us. From the drop off point we hiked for 2 hours through the valley to the bottom of the bay where we were staying for the night in a cottage in the penguin colony. Before we were dropped off Shireen made an off-hand comment about the river overflowing the day before and the path being a little wet. This was an extreme underexaggeration. Walking the path was like walking through a stream and it was ridiculously slippery and muddy. Only Anna and I were able to make it through without slipping in mud. Unfortunately, we were 2 of the only people who brought a change of pants to wear that night/the next day. The hike was a blast and very different from the first hike of the day. It was like we were in a whole different part of the country, but really we were only a few miles away. We saw some huge waterfalls and some really pretty trees and plants.
Michael falling in
A pretty waterfall
Example of the stream we hiked through
The view from our cottage
Our cottage
Mike: washing the mud off his rain coat from his fall
Friend on the farm
After arriving at the cottage we unloaded our stuff and then met Shireen for our evening tour of the penguin colony. She showed us the nests that they build for the penguins and the traps they set for the predators, which are mostly ferrets. She opened up several of the nests by removing the wooden block on top and we were able to see the mating pair of penguins huddled together. Walking further along the coast we were extremely lucky to spot a pair of the rarest type of penguin in the world only a few meters away. She only knows of 3 pairs living in the area. (On our hike back, one of the penguins happened to be on the path so we took the most dangerous detour around the path to avoid disturbing it. Shireen, who had earlier told us she had a bum hip and a broken toe, led the way with all of us scrambling after. It felt like one wrong step and we’d roll down the steep slope and eventually onto the rocks in the ocean. It became obvious to me that no one really sues here because we did not sign a waiver of any sort and she sent us off/led us on somewhat dangerous paths and adventures!)
On our tour of the penguin colony she proudly explained to us how she was the most successful of anyone at trapping ferrets. She gave us the run down of her daily routine, which included going out with her gun and killing a rabbit. She would then skin the rabbit but keep the blood on her hands all day. As she’d walk around to the traps she’d run her bloody hands and the rabbit fur on the trap then leave a little bit of cut up rabbit on top. It was kind of creepy how she described it with such pride. (One year she caught 60 ferrets on her ‘run’ of traps while her husband only caught 7, and the conservation only caught 19.) I was a little disturbed, as you might have guessed.
The penguins in their nest that are part of the colony
The pair of very rare penguins
After all of us had had enough of watching the penguins we began to head back. We stopped at a small hut and she gave us the option to wait until the sun set and watch the penguins hop onto the rocks form the water or go back to our cottage with fire and dinner! We were all quite excited to go back until Michael announced for all of us that it would be great to wait and watch the birds! After freezing for another 10 minutes we finally went back. Although it was very cold, seeing penguins in the wild was a really cool/rare experience. We ate dinner in the hut and started the fire around 6. We all talked about how we didn’t have much to do and we’d probably end up happily going to sleep by 9. Well, 7 hours later we all reluctantly went to bed after one of the most fun and funniest nights I think we’d all had in a long time. We played almost every game imaginable including, card tricks, telling riddles, spoons, the game of things, lots of charades, bingo, “say ‘ello to mate, mate” (Everyone loved it, Kate!) and lots more that I can’t even remember. I haven’t laughed so hard or much in a really long time.
Charades probably
So happy to have the fire going
Improvised Game Of ThingsThe next morning we woke up and fed Shireen’s baby lamb who was only about a week old. Everyone was talking about sheep and wool and eating sheep. Anna was pretty adamant that the “lamb” you eat isn’t really baby sheep it’s just what they call the meat. Anyways, she was pretty upset when Shireen informed her that they kill the sheep after 4 months for eating. She ensured us that if they didn’t do this than sheep would be extinct because it’s the only reason they’re raised…I’m not sure that made Anna feel better. It made me happy I’m a vegetarian though!
The trip back wasn’t even close to as beautiful as the day before because it was a little cloudy and rainy. We were all thankful that we had such a nice day previously. Overall, it was an amazing trip and it makes me so excited to see even more of the country!
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