February 16, 2026
At about 3:30 am I finally heard what I was hoping to hear: the little blue penguins making noises under the house. There were several minutes of on and off squawking. The sounds were fainter than what I had heard while here in 2023 and appeared to be coming from a different location under the house. It was still fun to hear.
In the morning we woke up to cloudy skies, cold, wind, and rain. The bad weather continued all day long. We didn't have much planned for the day, so we spent it enjoying the wild and windy views of the ocean and waves from the house. We built a fire and relaxed.
In the evening I made spaghetti and salad for dinner.
After dinner we made one more attempt to see the yellow-eyed penguin at Curio Bay. The weather was still wet, cold, and windy. A few other hardy souls joined us on the viewing platform. We were there for about an hour but were unsuccessful in our attempts to see the penguin.
The penguin viewing area overlooks a petrified forest. Below are some of the views from that evening.
We returned to the house and enjoyed another fire to stay warm.