The world’s newspapers are all agog with the events on the north island of New Zealand. At Peka Peka Beach an emperor has landed and is currently holding court to lots of locals. He’s made no pronouncements, but just relaxes and watches the fuss with interest.
He is a 10-month-old Emperor Penguin. Nice and plump and well fed on squid and krill according to the Sidney Morning Herald (1). He is however having a problem with the local drinks menu. Back home he would be slaking his thirst with a nice cold beakfull of snow. Not on the menu old chap in Peka Peka, but we have lots of warm wet sand. He has chosen to make do with that so as not to offend the locals. Although, warm sand will weigh a little heavy and maybe dull his appetite.
The consensus is that whilst cavorting in the Antarctic seas, he turned left instead of right and took one of those short cuts like your Uncle Bert used to take, which always involved you arriving late at the party or the wedding. Two thousand miles, though, is rather a long short cut. I guess, like most males, he refused to admit being lost and wouldn’t ask for directions.
The last regal visit by a penguin of Emperor status was 44 years ago on the south island. He is expected to leave shortly when he gets its fill of the attention of locals. It is to be hoped that he knows its right flipper from his left as he needs to make a right and head straight on from there.
