Day 13 - Twitching

Eventually we dragged ourselves out of Gill's comfey spare bed and she drove us into town for breakfast with Diane - a bit of a reunion since we all lived together in Wellington in 1993!

Nigel and I then headed off to the Karori Wildlife Park where the only mammals alowed in are human! There is a tight, tall fence around it and they check your bag for mice! (No, really!) Inside this mainland island the bush is mainly native and home to rare native birds which developed the now risky strategy of nesting on the ground. Nigel's hunting instincts came to the fore as he stalked tui, saddlebacks and stitchbirds through the undergrowth with his camera. We also spotted some tuatora, ancient remnents of the dinosaur clan, as they came out of the undergrowth to bask in the sun. The spines on their necks have been decorated with different combinations of coloured beads for identification purposes giving them a slightly hippy look. The whole park is set in a valley that used to hold two resevoirs until it was pointed out that having that much water on a fault line in an earthquake zone above a major population centre was not one of the brightest ideas. It was quite sheltered from the famous Wellington wind though and we had a very pleasant afternoon.

Gill and Diane then introduced us to an atmospheric Turkisk resturant where we once again indulged in our newest wine discovery, Pinot Noir from Central Otago!