Waiting for the blue penguins at dusk

Some of the best wildlife moments do not photograph well, and this is one of them. On the Otago coast, as the last light finally drained away, we stood on a platform in the dark and waited for the smallest penguins in the world to come home.

The little blue penguin, korora, stands about as tall as a bowling pin. They spend the whole day out at sea fishing and only come ashore once it is dark enough to be safe from predators. So you wait. The sky empties, the cold comes in off the water, and you watch the surf for movement. It is genuinely cold out there, and the longer the light holds on, the more the anticipation builds.

Then the first group appears, popping out of the waves and bustling up the rocks in a tight, determined little huddle, off to find their burrows for the night. Then another group. Then another. They are loud, busy, slightly ridiculous and utterly charming, and they could not care less that you are there.

I could have watched them for hours, group after group waddling up out of the black water. There is something about wild animals going about their evening completely unbothered by you that beats any zoo. We did, I admit, leave with a small fluffy penguin as a souvenir. A toy, not a real one.

Bring a warm layer for the wait. Where we watched them, photos are allowed and ours came out better than I expected, but it is still one to take in with your own eyes before you reach for a phone.