VictoriaMay 19
It was a bit of a transition, being back in a big city after spending so much time in quiet, small towns these past few months.
Peoples Coffee was our first stop of the day. From there we strolled around the Sunday market on the waterfront.
It was a good weather day (no wind!) to visit Zealandia, the world’s first fully fenced urban Eco-Sanctuary, Te Māra a Tāne or The Garden of Tāne. Named after Tāne, the god of forests and birds, the son of Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother. His children are the trees and birds of the NZ rainforest.
NZ has over 150 species of birds found nowhere else on earth. All of them come from only eight different bird families.
Like the Eco-Sanctuary we visited in Dunedin, Zealandia had a fence completely around the 500+ acres of the park.
To get in and out, we went through a two gate locking door system so that no predators accidentally snuck in.
Once inside, we saw tuis, fantails, kakas, wood pigeons and bellbirds, birds we have seen and become familiar with since we’ve been in NZ.
The Kākās got a bit too close for my comfort when they decided to answer my command and do a flyover — buzzing me right overhead.
We also got to experience the sounds of bird calls. Mitch played a comical trick on me when I kept looking up in the trees, looking for the bird making the sound, before I finally realized it was coming from a speaker. It was funny and he caught some of it on video below.
A first for us was seeing the beautiful saddleback and the elusive tuatara, a rare reptile found only in NZ. Thanks to the Zealandia guides, we spotted him on the forest floor, well camouflaged. Several hours later, he was in the exact same spot! Geez, talk about a sedentary and monotonous life style. These reptiles are from the dinosaur age. Despite its close resemblance to lizards, tuataras are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name tuatara is derived from the Māori language and means “peaks on the back.”
We walked across the suspension bridge and across the upper dam, which was constructed in 1908. It has since been decommissioned in 1991 and the lower dam in 1997. From the bridge over the dam, we took in the expansive views of the sanctuary and could grasp the vast amount of bush dedicated to preserving bird life and wildlife inside the park and around the city.
We enjoyed watching birds turning over every stone in search of food and hiking up to the lookout tower for even more park views.
We worked up an appetite strolling the grounds and ended up at Rata Cafe for our favorite, unhealthy snack- french fries (aka chips). Must. Stop. Eating. Fries. They are so good in this country, we can’t resist!
Our dinner tonight was at Kisa, a great Middle Eastern restaurant. We sat at the bar overlooking the kitchen and enjoyed watching all the action as we devoured pita, hummus, fava bean falafel, Brussels sprouts with fig and tahini, smashed cucumbers and pickle salad with walnut and pomegranate dressing.
The highlight of the day, however, happened across the street from Kisa, an unexpected delight at Duck Island Ice Cream. We were blown away by what was probably the best vegan ice cream we’ve ever had. Cookie dough is my least favorite flavor in general, but their vegan version with peanut butter was outstanding. Lucky for us we’re here another few days for another round!
Some diet. Hope you fit in the plane seat!