My Day of Bird Watching.

Cable car to nowhere!
HA just kidding, rebuild at the Kelburn terminal!

   Sunday was Wellington’s “Open Day.” A lot of local attractions were offering discounted prices for entry, to get the locals to see Wellington as the tourists do. Most places asked for a gold coin donation to get in, which is a pretty common thing around here. New Zealand has a $2 coin, and that’s a widely accepted donation, or koha, around here. I had a lot of options for places to visit Sunday, but I chose Zealandia. I’m so glad I did! It was such an incredible day!

   Zealandia is within the Karori Sanctuary, and it has walking paths, guided tours, a few animal exhibits, and plenty of native flora and fauna in it. It’s in the Karori valley, which is situated right on top of a huge fault line. There was originally a dam there, but once the fault line was discovered, they discontinued use of the dam to prevent a serious catastrophe. It was cool that the area had such history!

   I took the cable car up to the top of the hill, and walked over to the Zealandia bus stop to catch the 9:50 shuttle. Zealandia opens at 10, and I figured it would be busy, so I got there early! The shuttle was full, so it’s a good thing I did. As we pulled into the Zealandia driveway, we could see the HUGE line of people waiting to get in.. yikes! I didn’t think it would be this busy!

Look at that line!

   I got in after a while, gave my gold coin, and I was set! I queued for the entrance to the park, which was a double gate to keep pests outs. A bunch of us all piled into the cage, and had to close one door before we could open the second to get into the valley. The Zealandia crew are really serious about restoring the sanctuary to the way it was before settler’s came to New Zealand.
   I walked around the valley for nearly 5 hours. There was so much to see! First, I took a boat ride up the old dam lake. I got to see some of the birds close up! After the boat, I walked around the main loop that led to the upper dam in the valley. There are 2 dams, built a long time ago before knowledge of the fault line. It was the perfect day to be walking around the sanctuary - sunny but not too hot, cool and windy but not too cold. I could feel the warm sun on my face, smell the earthiness of the bush, hear birds all round me, and hear the wind through the trees and the trees creaking. It was the most beautiful experience!

A perfect day for a boatride.

   After reaching the upper dam, I decided to go on the Round the Lake track rather than just heading back. I got into Zealandia for $2 instead of $20, so I wanted to take advantage of it! The track took me an hour or two, and it was really steep and muddy in places, but it was worth it. I saw a Kaka, which is a big parrot, up close and in it's native environment! It flew right in front of me, and then hung out for a while. I think it was showing off. I also saw lots of other birds on the Zealandia checklist they give you, including the Saddleback, Bellbird, Tui, Kakariki, North Island Robin, Takahe, Grey Warbler, Pateke, as well as Tuatara and Weta. It's amazing that all these animals are back in their pre-human environment, living like they would have thousands of years ago.

Deep in the native bush!

Well worth the hike!

A takahe. The friendliest!

Yucky weta in a gross weta hotel. Ew.

A bellbird at a feeder. It let me get so close!

A kaka who was not shy at all!

A North Island robin. Another outgoing bird!

Hey baby tuatara!!

   After conquering the Round the Lake track, I made it back to the main loop and made my way to the Zealandia Visitor Centre. I was starving at this point, after walking for nearly 5 hours! I got a quick snack at the cafe, and kept on going. There's an exhibition inside the visitor centre with tons of info about how New Zealand formed, what it was like before humans, how humans impacted it, and conservation efforts. I spent a few hours reading everything in there.. it was really interesting! The craziest thing for me was how Europeans came to New Zealand, brought species with them like goats and dogs, burnt the forest away for farmland, and completely altered the landscape. These days that totally wouldn't fly, but back then it was a free for all!

A 9 FOOT TALL BIRD. STOP.
I'm glad moas are extinct.

   Zealandia closed at 5, and I made it out just in time to catch the free shuttle back to the cable car. I intended to walk home, but I was just too tired, so I took the cable car back down. After exploring Zealandia from 10-5, my feet hurt and I was ready to relax. The rest of the evening was very chill, which I so needed. I didn't intend to be so active this weekend - I wanted to rest and get better! But I'm glad I did so much and saw so much. I love how Wellington has a little bit of everything - bustling downtown, beautiful waterfront and beaches, native bush... I will never cease to be amazed with this place!

You knew I'd take a picture of myself... didn't you?