Penguin crossings
Because New Zealand is so close to the South Pole, it has penguins – four species in total, though only one, the little blue penguin, or kororÄ (the world’s smallest penguin – so basically as cute as a penguin can possibly be), is normally found in the Wellington area. Even though Wellington is a city, much of the coastline is quite undeveloped, and kororÄ still come ashore to nest. They nest in underground burrows along the coast, and will happily use man-made ‘burrow’ spaces – such as under houses, if given the chance. This is a bit of a problem, as this means they have to cross the road which divides buildings from the beach. So all along the Wellington coast you can see ‘Penguin Crossing’ signs: For 8 years, until we bought The Castle, we lived less than 300 meters from a ‘Penguin Crossing’ sign, but, to my everlasting dismay, I never managed to see one in the wild. I finally had to go to the zoo to see a korora in person. This …
