Franz Josef - Kiwi encounter

Well today was, and still is very wet, Bucketing from early morning so lucky we had our kiwi encounter tour which was indoors. Fortunate we had our helicopter flight yesterday as no flights today.

model kiwis to hold so you can feel their weight at different ages

We ventured in to town to do our Kiwi tour as well as penguins, and the Tuatara. They have a couple of options. A guided tour and also a backstage pass, where got to see a baby kiwi about 14 days old. They have a breeding program which they raise eggs collected to ensure that the released kiwis can make a go of surviving in the wild, and not get eaten a by by invaders.

backstage pass talk

Did you know there are 5 species of Kiwi?

The kiwi egg very large compared the size of the bird.

They have a pool which houses a few blue penguins ( fairy or little) and they have a feeding time and a viewing tank.

They also have a Tuatara enclosure which houses about 5 of these fellas. They don't need to breed these as they do have plenty on some small islands off the coast.

Lizzy went wild in the gift shop ( again :) ) picked up a few gifts for herself and others.

Next on to shop for dinner and we got soaked, and then home to do the washing, and yes I got soaked going to and from the laundry.

Tomorrow we head off north for a day. Then inland after that. We need to be in Christchurch on Saturday, as I have the Australian National over 65 cricket matches to play on Sun. Mon Wed and Thurs. Yes the NZers come over to play in Aus, so I guess we are returning the favour.

That's it for today all hope you are not too bored by our adventure blog.

Talk again tomorrow.

Rob & Liz

Penguin video

Comments

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