Zealandia

Zealandia is a 265 hectare wild life preserve for native birds and reptiles.  It is surrounded by a predator proof fence that they liken to the great wall of China. I didn't know the scale of it and thought I would be there for an hour or so like in a zoo but I was there for 5 hours and I barely did the main trail.  It is quite amazing and they are justifiable proud of it.  The guide looked about 18 but is older and very committed to the long view saying that they were opened in 1995 and are planning for the next 500 years. The interesting thing to me is that unlike North America conservation is all about killing off introduced species both flora and fauna.

A view from the air

And from the ground

There are several predator proof entry ways where you have to go through two gates

I asked my guide if I could take his picture because my son had bought a hiking kilt. He said I can do better than that and took off his hat to show his pink and blonde hair.  

The one problem in Zealandia is blue green algae as in their enthusiasm to be predator proof they shut off the water flow into the lake and didn't realize the problem the perch, another introduced species would be

There are several kms of trails, an abandoned gold mine with big bugs that you can go in at a set time with small infra red lights and try not to get claustrophobic or spooked in the dark. For people who can't walk far there is a little boat that goes up and down the lake there are feeding stations for the birds and an area where the reptiles are visible. There is also a high quality museum complete with movies about the evolution of the country and displays about how it will change and split apart over time with earthquakes and volcanos.

The Brown Teal, the smallest and rarest duck in the world is shy, we were lucky to see it.

The Kaka parrot is noisy and vulnerable

These cormorants were building a nest. The male would fly off and find a twig, bring it back to her.  She would lift her head and let out and tell the rest of the colony what a good guy he was then he would give it to her, or she would pull it from him, and off he would go again.

The Takakhe are very rare, slow to reproduce and full of personality. 

This is an extinct mini Moa in the museum.  It moved it's head up and down, very lifelike but this pic looks kind of pathetic.

Because it was warm the reptiles were really active and out getting sun today

This Wellington Green Gecko is my favourite

The Tuatara is a 'living fossil' extinct on the mainland. It is a protective symbol to the Maori and there is a big sculpture of one on the parliament building to protect it.

In the midst of all this Avis called and asked for more information so I felt some pressure to get the car issue settled and headed home mid afternoon. I was too tired to keep walking anyway. There is a free shuttle bus to the icentre a couple of blocks from my place. After an hour worth of calls back and forth they worked out the payment with Expedia and we were both most relieved. So now I am happy to just be paying all the extras. I am tired of wearing just one shirt and went to the Khatmandu outlet and bought two for a quarter of the price they would be in the regular store. Then I went down to the waterfront and did some more photography. All in all it was a great day and it's after midnight. Time flies I'll have to look up the names of the animals tomorrow
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The waterfront was quieter, end of weekend and later in the day

Wellington won the international award for most livable city and they run the news on the stock ticker even though it happened a couple of years ago

A football statue that symbolizes Wellington's rise from a terrible earthquake, the fault line of which you can still see from the air.

My apartment hotel, I think my room is on the back next to the forest