More of Wellington, December 5 & 6

 December 5

Wellington Cable Car

   We got out pretty early and walked to the bottom of the cable car and took it to the top. There, were waited for the free shuttle bus to Zeelandia, the first urban wildlife sanctuary in the world. The 500+ acre sanctuary is home to some of New Zealand's rarest native species from birds to lizards to plants. 

 

Our guide pointing out a rock from Gondwana, so older than New Zealand. It was a gift from the local Maori

The trees are amazing - so twisted in this photo

   It is the first fully-fenced such sanctuary in the world. Some of the species now there had not been on the North Island in over 100 years.  The fence, started in 1999, was designed to prevent pests from entering. New Zealand did not have any mammals until they were introduced, mostly in the 1800s. The fence was designed to exclude the non-native animals ranging from deer to mice. After the fence was built, the pests within the wall were eradicated in about 9 months. Of course, some get in. Our informative guide, Frederico, mentioned that, for example, rodents are sometimes dropped by accident from birds of prey, like falcons. 

Electric boat at Zeelandia

    We were in a small group of bird enthusiasts which enhanced our walk. (Probably about 2 miles). We saw some birds we had not previously seen such as a whitehead, several kakas, which are among the most intelligent of parrots. We also spotted a fantail next with babies, but it was hard to photograph. 

We never tire of wagtails

A wagtail nest!!!!

    We saw several tuatara lizards in their burrows - very hidden and very still.

tuatara

     We also saw giant wetas, insects endemic to New Zealand. They look a bit like large crickets and among the heaviest of all insects. Some varieties weigh more than a sparrow. Every species in New Zealand is flightless. The ones we saw are beneficial by cleaning up decay such as dead leaves. While they live in wood, they do not harm the trees. The giant weta are protected by the government. 

Yes, there is a wagtail in there somewhere!

    We also heard quite a lot about plants. New Zealand may not have many dangerous critters, but it has a lot of poisonous plants. We saw silver ferns and  huge fuschia trees (they are so wet that an fuschia log will not burn in a fire)    

     It was a great tour.

      Afterwards, we took the shuttle, then the cable car back down and walked to The Old Quarter restaurant where we ate yesterday and had the exact same meals - the duck and orange salad was just that good!

December 6 

And we never tire of the tui either!

Path at Zeelandia

    We decided to go back to Zeelandia again today as it was just that good. And, the ticket is good for two days, a bonus. So, in many ways, it was a repeat of yesterday. 

     The weather started out cloudy and a bit chilly, but we shed layers by the afternoon. Every day the weather has been better than predicted.

    We went back to the cable car and got the shuttle to the sanctuary where we walked about 2 miles. We got better photos of the "stick" insects which are hard to see.

 

This may look like a green bean, but look closely - it is a stick insect

   We also saw a lot more tuatara lizards. 

     And, we saw some wonderful fantails. We tried to spot a nest, but didn't. It is so hard to get a photo of them with the tails fanned out.

     We watched the kakas operating the feeding stations, using their "feet" to press a lever to release food. We took a short video of that.

     We also saw some courting robins and Mark got a video.

   We went to the cafe and had lunch. Barbara had a delicious sweet potato & broccoli soup and Mark had eggs on toast.

     On the way up the cable car, we saw a cricket match going on, so we got off the cable car early and walked down to the pitch. It was two local clubs - Taita vs the University. We met some helpful people who explained some of the rules of the game and we had a lovely afternoon.

     

kaka 

Then, we caught the cable car for the rest of the way down and we walked into town and Mark got some new sunglasses as a Christmas present.

     We thought about eating out, but decided to eat the stuff we have in our room - some cheese, peanut butter and jelly and crackers. Plus, we already walked 4 miles, so....having an early evening to do a last laundry and relax before leaving tomorrow morning for Auckland.

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