Thank you, Fergus Sutherland, for this cool, yet unfortunately realistic New Zealand sea lion/pakake cartoon!
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting Fergus and his wife Mary, they are Otago-locals. Fergus is a keen conservationist: actively involved in yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho and pakake conservation. He is an artist, and the Secretary of the Catlins Coast Inc.
Fergus and Mary have long recognised how special The Catlins is, and through their previous Ecotourism business Catlins Wildlife Trackers shared the Catlins area with guests from all over the world, and from Aotearoa as well.
In 2000, they purchased a 14-hectare property in Tawanui, the Catlins Mohua Park, which features four luxury self-catering cottages, forest walks and the historic Tawanui Railway Station. Before they sold Mohua Park in 2016, they won an Otago Chamber of Commerce business award for sustainable tourism and were finalists in both the design and tourism categories.