Zealandia (by day and night)

Zealandia is such a wonderful natural valley - unbelievable that it is located not even three km away from downtown Wellington. Once more, I enjoyed the forest with the only noises coming from birds and insects. I tried to spot some birds (even had my binoculars with me) and, every now and then, was succesful. I could observe some tuis, saw some whiteheads, as well as some kakas, but that was at a place where they get additional food. Furthermore, walking around in this peaceful nature was so nice. For dinner I went shortly back in the city before I had to be back at Zealandia at a quarter to eight at Zealandia because I had booked a night tour, mainly in the hope of spotting a kiwi. The night tour was gorgeous. We started in dusk, so we could still see pretty much. The guide showed us a shack colony, as well as something very special, two Takahe. Takahe are very threatened. Only 418 birds are known to be still living in New Zealand, so the takahe is much more threatened than the kiwi. It got darker every minute, but we were equipped with torches. We saw several tuataras, reptiles similar to lizzards, but in fact tuataras date back to the time of the dinosaurs. We passed by the kaka feeding station and our guide explained to us, that the reason of feeding them is to bind them to the area and to make them more visible for the visitors. They would find way enough food all around Wellington without the additional feeding and they do live all around the capital again - a success of Zealandia. We made our way through the forest, but had no kiwi spotted yet. In a creek we saw two huge eels. Their size was quite impressive. In some part of the forest we could see glowworms on both sides of the trail, almost more formidable than in the cave in Waitomo. And then, it happened. A kiwi on its search for food appeared😁 We could observe it for some minutes. What an amazing moment. Some minutes later we passed by a second one, but that one dissappeared again quite qickly. What an experience, this night tour in Zealandia, but after 2.5 hours it came to an end. I could have stayed much longer. Since the cable car does not operate after 10 p.m. I walked the three km down to the city. I passed by the university with some beautiful buildings. Actually, I had planned to check out the bars in Cuba Street, but I simply was too tired.Read more