Opinion: Seal's antics part of New Zealand's charm

This not-so-little guy visited Judea yesterday. Photo / John Borren

We don't know how lucky we are.

I had those Fred Dagg lyrics stuck in my head all day yesterday after seeing the news of the seal that made its way to Judea in the morning.

It's not every day a seal decides to pay us landlubbers a visit.

They aren't exactly uncommon in the Bay, as any regular Mauao walker will tell you. But they're definitely an unusual sight in industrial Judea.

Workers at the scene were taking videos on their phones and posting on social media about their unusual visitor, who was snooping about like he owned the place.

It's pretty cool to see something like that at the start of your working day in the middle of a city, after all, it's not something that happens everywhere.

We're so used to our abundance of wildlife in this country that we forget it's not something everyone can experience.

I holidayed in Bali this year and can't even begin to describe the shock I felt at the state of their environment. It's a cool little island, but it's absolutely filthy.

It's impossible to walk on the beach without wading through rubbish, and bits of floating plastic stick to your ankles like seaweed if you attempt entering the water.

It's not the kind of environment that's conducive to friendly wildlife, and seems to be a widespread problem in developing countries.

Then visitors come here and are amazed by all the animals wandering around that we take for granted.

I've even seen tourists at a beach excitedly snapping photos of seagulls - imagine how amazed they would be at yesterday's escapade.

We're so lucky to live in this beautiful country of ours.