BOOBY (I mean gannet!) and a world record

I read about the Cape Kidnapper’s gannet colony, and it was recommended highly by Toby, so with a vague idea of what a gannet was ( a seabird) I ventured for a five hour hike that had to be timed with the tides. The hike is walking along the beach – at first pebbles and then mostly sand – along a cliff face. So if you time the tides incorrectly you could get quite wet and at times it is probably unsafe. It was a nice walk and I poked in tide pools and looked at rock layers in the cliff. Then there was a sign on the cliff face (about 20 feet up so no one could mess with it) so I knew I was close. And there they were – on the giant house-size rock to my left and on the cliffs to my right. Some of them were sitting on eggs; some of them had white fuzzy chicks. They were also about twenty feet up, and though you might want to get near for a closer look – they projectilely shoot out poop. It was odiferous. I got a closer look, realized that gannets are related to the booby and then carried on down the beach bc the signs told me too. There were more gannets long the way but then a stretch of open beach until you got the gate and were led steeply up a hill, onto a plateau, and up another steep hill. As I crested the hill, there they were. Thousands of gannets squawking, flapping, pooing, feeding babies, readjusting on eggs – all that was keeping me back was a chain at ankle height. I could have petted them if I thought I wouldn’t get pecked. I watched them for a long while and tried my hand at videos as well as taking a million photos. i was fascinated. Then a heap of people showed up (they took the tractor ride instead of walking 20k – but they still had to climb the steep hill – haha) and it was time to make the long hike back.

After a bit of looking at the map, I decided on a must-do detour to the longest place name in the world. The sign was longer than a bus proclaiming the name – and I don’t have any notes nearby to reproduce this name in written form – just trust me – it was long.