When a cruise ship reaches a port, there's usually a choice of on-shore excursions available to the passengers. When we landed in Napier, on New Zealand's North Island, we decided to take a tour to the nearby Cape Kidnappers and see the gannets.

These interesting birds are members of the Booby family. There are about 20,000 gannets at the Cape, making it the largest and most spectacular mainland nesting place of gannets in the entire world. They're about the size of a large seagull, with black eye markings and a pale ... (more)