Today, Monday (2nd Jan) saw us arrive in Wellington (the capital of NZ) situated on the bottom of the North Island. The weather had deteriorated somewhat from Akaroa, but was pleasant nevertheless - some cloud cover with a cool wind.
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| The Kaka Parrot |
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| Baby Tuatara |
We had nothing specifically booked for today and decided to go to Zealander, an urban wildlife sanctuary. The owners have a vision to restore the 225 hectare valley as closely as possible to its pre-human state. We walked and walked through the forest and wetland to beautiful birdsong. We saw several endangered Saddleback birds and Kaka, the large New Zealand parrot.
We also saw 2 adult and a baby Tuatara.
These amazing ancient creatures are described as living fossils and are closely related to dinosaurs.
They were extinct on the mainland until brought in from one of the nearby islands and are now breeding successfully in the sanctuary.
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| Adult Male Tuatara |
It was a very uplifting experience to see the sanctuary and the efforts people are making to preserve the region's biodiversity.
We then travelled by cable car back down to Wellington and once back onboard ship soaked our weary bodies in a hot spa on deck as the fog rolled in and a freezing wind came up.
Napier tomorrow.
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