Squeak And Squiffle

They drop their gear in the bunkhouse.

I'll leave you to it, says the Ranger. Don't venture beyond the visitors' track network. And use the toilets in the quarantine room. No fires. Don't drop rubbish.

Certainly, says Gaius. And I take it we have your permission to leave the bunkhouse at night?

You do, says the Ranger. Take your whistles.

He leaves, to do his rounds of the island.

Right, says Katherine. I'm going to read my book under a tree.

What about the hihi? asks Gaius.

There may be a hihi in the tree, says Katherine. 

Look for knotholes, fairly high up, in old trees, says Gaius. That's where their nests are. 

Thanks for that, Gaius, says Katherine, taking her book, a hat and a handful of dried apple slices.

She heads down the visitors' track to look for a suitable tree. 

I'll wander off and look for blue penguins, says David.

You do that, says Gaius. Arthur and I will search for wetapunga.

Will we? says Arthur.

Indeed, says Gaius. Wetapunga feed mainly at night, but are also active during the day. Come, Arthur.

Should we eat first? asks Arthur.

Very sensible, says Gaius, opening the packet of protein balls.

They eat one or two.

And head off to look for leafy vegetation in second growth forests on the lower slopes of the island.

David has gone back to the dinghy. He supposes that if there are penguins they will be found near the water.

He sits down on a boulder, and gazes out to sea.

He doesn't see any penguins, although there are penguins nearby, huddled in a cleft between the boulders.

They squeak and squiffle.

But David is thinking up answers to empirical problems. Ones which rely on observation rather than logical systems. It's his hobby.

He realises after several minutes, that he is hungry, and heads back to the bunkhouse.

The penguins stay put.