Dunedin - South Island, New Zealand

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Paddling out for my first surf here, I saw yellow eared penguins walking between their burrows on the hillside and out to the surf. It was pretty cool to see these guys in the wild. In Oamaru, Hedda and I had stood in the rain for almost an hour, looking down a 100 foot cliff with 20 other tourists just trying to catch a glimpse of the same penguins. I was virtually alone with them just a few feet away, watching them waddle into the surf next to me. Here I was, just another silly looking creature dressed in black, flopping around in the surf.

Once outside waiting for the next set, I saw a fur seal come flying down the line on the wave of the afternoon. I was ducking under the lip with him just a few feet away riding the wave. Fun. Kind of... After the wave finished he poked his head out of the water about ten feet away to announce his presence. He stared me down pretty good to let me know who was boss out here. I asked one of the local guys who was out if he was a regular and he told me yeah, the seal name is Jerry. Hi Jerry, nice to meet ya. The wild life here is amazing.