There are Kiwis and there are Kiwis; and of course there are Kiwis.

January 31, 2014

We both agree that New Zealand has been pretty much what we expected.  Beautiful, lush, rolling landscape with dramatic mountain ranges; gorgeous coastline with soft black sand beaches and plenty of farmland with sheep and cows roaming over the hills.  We are pleasantly surprised at the ease of which things happen here.  To be honest, we never plan too far ahead and book very few things in advance.  We usually sit together the night before or the morning of the day and decide where to go.  So far, we have not had any difficulties getting in to see what we want or finding a place to camp for the night.  The freedom is quite delightful.

We have been very impressed with the tourist bureaus called “i-sites” here in Kiwi land.  They are conveniently located and are usually spacious and well appointed, some even offering free wifi.  The staff is always helpful and the numbers of free brochures are plentiful. 

We have found the Kiwis to be polite and courteous but not overly friendly.  Generally they are kind people if a little reserved, but will graciously return a smile and a greeting and provide helpful information if asked.  They keep everything neat and tidy and you would be hard pressed to find any litter around the towns or highways.  It all looks picture perfect.

It seems there are two kinds of tourist sites in New Zealand.  There are the free sites and then there are the others.  We find the others tend to be quite pricey.  For example, the Glowworm caves cost $49.00 per person for a 45-minute tour.  And the Kiwi sanctuary was $20.00 per person for what I would say is an extremely small zoo consisting of a kiwi house where you can see two kiwis in semi-darkness.  On the other hand, the National Parks and Reserves are free to enter and the tracks are well marked, well groomed and the toilet facilities are surprisingly clean.  There are plenty of free things to do in New Zealand so it’s fairly easy to keep your budget in check and still keep busy.

Below are photo highlights from the last couple of days.  We travelled down the Whanganui River Road to Ohakune, home of the big carrot.  The next day we continued to the town of Whanganui that proved to be an extremely pretty little town with some nice museums, a glass blowing exhibit and a still operating steam driven paddle boat. 

The Whanganui River

St. Joseph's Church on the Whanganui River Road - pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

The Whanganui River - from the South end.

Art in the Park in Whanganui - the big silver ball has the map of the Whanganui River traced on it.

The Town of Whanganui

Jens at the helm of a paddle steamboat under restoration.  Do you think he is missing SY SEGWUN?

This big carrot was just begging for a hug!  Ohakune!

I know you are all waiting to see photos of Kiwi’s (by which I mean the flightless bird variety), but did you know these creatures are very shy and nocturnal, hiding in burrows during the day; and are actually quite rare in many regions.  They have been nearly eradicated because of all the predators such as rats, possums and ferrets that have been introduced to the area.  The forest rangers are making a huge effort to rid these foreign predators and are slowly reintroducing the Kiwis to their natural habitats. 

As I said, we saw them in captivity at the Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Center, which is NZ’s most established and successful wildlife breeding centre.  They have a few Kiwis in the centre including the very rare white Kiwi.  It was really nice to see them even if it was a bit dark and much too dark for photos.  Pukaha take care of not only the Kiwi but also other birds and reptiles that are endangered, such as the Kaka bird seen below.

The Kaka bird - currently a protected species.

And as for the third variety of Kiwi, we have yet to sample the local fruit.  They aren’t so plentiful in the fruit section at the grocery store so it might be that they are not yet in season.  More investigation on this is needed. 

So that’s the scoop on the Kiwi, the Kiwi and the Kiwi … so far.