Sorry for the lateness of this posting. I have been working on a small project and have not had time to write about our most recent adventure in New Zealand
Kiwi birds
We first went to Otorohanga, which is about an hour southwest of Hamilton. Here we visited the Otorohanga Kiwi House Native Bird Park. It is not a very big park, but it is well laid out with a winding trail that takes you past a number of smaller aviaries, larger enclosures and open areas with ponds. There is also one large aviary that encloses a small forested area that allows some NZ forest birds to act "free-range". The highlight of the park is the Nocturnal Kiwi House. The kiwi house is home to 5 or 6 kiwi birds. One of the kiwis is a Great Spotted kiwi while the others are all Northern Brown kiwis (we think).
Kiwi birds are nocturnal, so it is good for tourists like us that the park keeps them confused by keeping them in a darkened enclosure during the day. This allowed us to see the kiwis roaming around searching for food. (There is no true floor in their enclosure so insects and worms are able to get in. Bad for them, good for the kiwis). At 1:30 daily they feed the kiwis, which allowed us to get a better view of them. Marshall really liked the kiwi enclosure and said several times it was the closest he would ever get to one (a pane of glass apart).
In case you haven't heard enough about kiwi birds, here is a bit more information for you. Kiwis are found only in NZ. The Maori name for kiwis means "old man walking with a stick." This is an excellent description of them for as they walk around they are constantly sticking their beak in the soil sniffing for food. It looks exactly like someone walking with a cane. They are flightless (very tiny wings) and tailless and are the only bird to have their nostrils at the tip of their beak, which allows them to smell really well. We also learned that despite their sort-of unbalanced appearance, they are quite active and can run/move surprisingly fast.
Environmentalist moment - Like much of NZ's native flora and fauna, kiwi bird populations have been decimated by the introduction of non-native species. Weasels, stoats and ferrets were brought to NZ to control rabbit and hare numbers (more introduced species). Being flightless made kiwis easy prey for these and other predators such as possums and feral cats and dogs. Kiwis are now a protected species throughout NZ. New Zealand has established predator-free off-shore islands where native species are reintroduced. They have also created terrestrial "islands" which are areas of native forest where attempts have been made to remove/eradicate non-native species and in particular predators. So many of NZ's native birds have been killed that in most areas the pre-dominant species are those brought over by British settlers, such as house sparrows, blackbirds, and finches.
While the kiwis were great, I also liked the wekas, another ground bird, and two types of NZ parrots, the kaka and the kea. Karen was partial to the brown teal, which is without doubt a "cute" bird.
Visiting the kiwi park was a real highlight for Marshall as he talked about seeing kiwis since we first started planning to come to NZ. To commemorate this he bought his first NZ souvenir, "Kelly the Kiwi". Another highlight for him was seeing a tuatara, including one roaming around the large, forested aviary. Tuatara are living fossils, as they are "the sole survivor of an ancient order of reptiles common throughout the world over 200 million years ago."
If you are at all interested in seeing and learning a little bit about some of NZ's native birds, I would recommend you visit the Kiwi House Native Bird Park.
Waitomo Caves and glow worms
After Otorohanga, we drove to Waitomo which is about 15 minutes away. Around Waitomo there are a number of large limestone caves that have been formed by water flowing through cracks and dissolving the limestone. We went on two tours, the first to Ruakuri Cave (Ru-a-currrre-ee), the second to Waitomo (Why-toe-moe) glow worm cave. I don't think any of us really knew exactly what we were going to see, but I was blown away by the caves, particularly Ruakuri.
Ruakuri, which apparently means "den of dogs", is very hard to describe. You start the tour by descending a very cool spiral staircase/ramp. From there you are taken on a 1.5 hour tour through the cave over a series of well-maintained walkways. Along the walkways is low-level lighting that allows you to see many of the features of the cave such as stalactites (hang down) and stalagmites (grow up), curtains, cave coral, and a black underground stream. They turn the lights on a section at a time, which helps maintain your sense of being underground. In the end I would describe our time in Ruakuri as surreal and something we would have experienced nowhere else.
Several asides about Ruakuri. First, Karen does not like tight, close spaces, and she really enjoyed our tour. Second, I thought the spiral ramp and walkways would take away from the cave and make the tour very touristy. Quite the opposite. They are so well done and placed that they make the tour accessible and enjoyable. Instead of worrying about watching your feet or bumping into the cave walls, you can take your time to really view the cave and its limestone formations. These formations are very fragile so in fact the walkways preserve the cave's limestone formations. Finally, about the name "den of dogs". The legend is that a Maori hunter was attacked by a pack of dogs near the cave. When members of his tribe hunted the dogs, they found that the dogs were living in the cave, which was unknown to the Maori before this, hence "den of dogs". After this the cave became a sacred site to the Maori in the area and was used for burials. The cave later became the property of a European family who began conducting tours, part of which took people through the burial sites. Some more history ensued, which I don't really know much about, that resulted in the cave being closed for 17 years, during which time the spiral rampway was dug and built and the walkways and lights were put in place. The upshot of this is that there is now a new entrance to the cave and tourists no longer trample through a Maori sacred site.
After Ruakuri, we went on a 45 minute tour of the Waitomo ("Water entering a hole in the ground") Cave. This cave is a little different than Ruakuri. First it is much wider and taller. Much of the floor is covered with big paving stones and there are wide stairways in it. The acoustics are excellent in it (choirs regularly sing there). I would describe it as an underground cathederal, it is that big. It is certainly more touristy than Ruakuri. While unique I would not describe it as surreal.
Waitomo Cave's main draw is that it has a wide, accessible river running through part of it. This river attracts thousands (millions ??) of glow worms to the cave. At the end of the tour you are put in a boat and pulled along silently through the dark while you view gatherings of glow worms on the cave ceiling. We were told the Maori term for glow worms is "stars/presentation over water". Glow worms are very bright and when they are bunched together they do look like a constellation of stars. Ruakuri has glow worms as well, but nothing compared to Waitomo.
Glow worm trivia - They are found only in New Zealand. The glow worm is the larvae of a large, mosquito looking-like fungus gnat. The adults lay eggs on the walls and ceilings of caves and on other places over quiet waters such as small streams (We saw some at our friends', Chris and Sharon, home). After the larvae hatch they hang lines of sticky threads (like a spider but with fishing lines rather than a web) to trap insects. The larvae emit a phospherent light, like a firefly, to attract other insects to these threads. Nature is tricky.
Finally, while waiting for our tour of Ruakuri to start, I walked a bit of the Waitomo Walkway, a hike that was recommended by others. To be blunt, I was underwhelmed with the first part of the trail. My recommendation, and what I will do if I get a chance, is simply walk through the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve rather than doing the entire Walkway.
If you haven't guessed already, there is a reason why the Waitomo Caves area is a very popular destination for NZ tourists (bus loads visit the glow worm cave). Next stop, the Northlands.
Kidd Family New Zealand Observations:
We had a very choice day.
Not all caves are scary.
We are not the only unique birds in New Zealand.
We first went to Otorohanga, which is about an hour southwest of Hamilton. Here we visited the Otorohanga Kiwi House Native Bird Park. It is not a very big park, but it is well laid out with a winding trail that takes you past a number of smaller aviaries, larger enclosures and open areas with ponds. There is also one large aviary that encloses a small forested area that allows some NZ forest birds to act "free-range". The highlight of the park is the Nocturnal Kiwi House. The kiwi house is home to 5 or 6 kiwi birds. One of the kiwis is a Great Spotted kiwi while the others are all Northern Brown kiwis (we think).
Kiwi birds are nocturnal, so it is good for tourists like us that the park keeps them confused by keeping them in a darkened enclosure during the day. This allowed us to see the kiwis roaming around searching for food. (There is no true floor in their enclosure so insects and worms are able to get in. Bad for them, good for the kiwis). At 1:30 daily they feed the kiwis, which allowed us to get a better view of them. Marshall really liked the kiwi enclosure and said several times it was the closest he would ever get to one (a pane of glass apart).
 |
| Northern brown kiwi (photo from: http://www.worldcountries.info/NewZealand/a1-NewZealand-24.htm) |
In case you haven't heard enough about kiwi birds, here is a bit more information for you. Kiwis are found only in NZ. The Maori name for kiwis means "old man walking with a stick." This is an excellent description of them for as they walk around they are constantly sticking their beak in the soil sniffing for food. It looks exactly like someone walking with a cane. They are flightless (very tiny wings) and tailless and are the only bird to have their nostrils at the tip of their beak, which allows them to smell really well. We also learned that despite their sort-of unbalanced appearance, they are quite active and can run/move surprisingly fast.
Environmentalist moment - Like much of NZ's native flora and fauna, kiwi bird populations have been decimated by the introduction of non-native species. Weasels, stoats and ferrets were brought to NZ to control rabbit and hare numbers (more introduced species). Being flightless made kiwis easy prey for these and other predators such as possums and feral cats and dogs. Kiwis are now a protected species throughout NZ. New Zealand has established predator-free off-shore islands where native species are reintroduced. They have also created terrestrial "islands" which are areas of native forest where attempts have been made to remove/eradicate non-native species and in particular predators. So many of NZ's native birds have been killed that in most areas the pre-dominant species are those brought over by British settlers, such as house sparrows, blackbirds, and finches.
While the kiwis were great, I also liked the wekas, another ground bird, and two types of NZ parrots, the kaka and the kea. Karen was partial to the brown teal, which is without doubt a "cute" bird.
Visiting the kiwi park was a real highlight for Marshall as he talked about seeing kiwis since we first started planning to come to NZ. To commemorate this he bought his first NZ souvenir, "Kelly the Kiwi". Another highlight for him was seeing a tuatara, including one roaming around the large, forested aviary. Tuatara are living fossils, as they are "the sole survivor of an ancient order of reptiles common throughout the world over 200 million years ago."
If you are at all interested in seeing and learning a little bit about some of NZ's native birds, I would recommend you visit the Kiwi House Native Bird Park.
Waitomo Caves and glow worms
After Otorohanga, we drove to Waitomo which is about 15 minutes away. Around Waitomo there are a number of large limestone caves that have been formed by water flowing through cracks and dissolving the limestone. We went on two tours, the first to Ruakuri Cave (Ru-a-currrre-ee), the second to Waitomo (Why-toe-moe) glow worm cave. I don't think any of us really knew exactly what we were going to see, but I was blown away by the caves, particularly Ruakuri.
Several asides about Ruakuri. First, Karen does not like tight, close spaces, and she really enjoyed our tour. Second, I thought the spiral ramp and walkways would take away from the cave and make the tour very touristy. Quite the opposite. They are so well done and placed that they make the tour accessible and enjoyable. Instead of worrying about watching your feet or bumping into the cave walls, you can take your time to really view the cave and its limestone formations. These formations are very fragile so in fact the walkways preserve the cave's limestone formations. Finally, about the name "den of dogs". The legend is that a Maori hunter was attacked by a pack of dogs near the cave. When members of his tribe hunted the dogs, they found that the dogs were living in the cave, which was unknown to the Maori before this, hence "den of dogs". After this the cave became a sacred site to the Maori in the area and was used for burials. The cave later became the property of a European family who began conducting tours, part of which took people through the burial sites. Some more history ensued, which I don't really know much about, that resulted in the cave being closed for 17 years, during which time the spiral rampway was dug and built and the walkways and lights were put in place. The upshot of this is that there is now a new entrance to the cave and tourists no longer trample through a Maori sacred site.
After Ruakuri, we went on a 45 minute tour of the Waitomo ("Water entering a hole in the ground") Cave. This cave is a little different than Ruakuri. First it is much wider and taller. Much of the floor is covered with big paving stones and there are wide stairways in it. The acoustics are excellent in it (choirs regularly sing there). I would describe it as an underground cathederal, it is that big. It is certainly more touristy than Ruakuri. While unique I would not describe it as surreal.
 |
| Picture of glow worm cave from brochure (slightly enhanced) (Marshall thought it was cool that our guide was the same one from the picture) |
Glow worm trivia - They are found only in New Zealand. The glow worm is the larvae of a large, mosquito looking-like fungus gnat. The adults lay eggs on the walls and ceilings of caves and on other places over quiet waters such as small streams (We saw some at our friends', Chris and Sharon, home). After the larvae hatch they hang lines of sticky threads (like a spider but with fishing lines rather than a web) to trap insects. The larvae emit a phospherent light, like a firefly, to attract other insects to these threads. Nature is tricky.
Finally, while waiting for our tour of Ruakuri to start, I walked a bit of the Waitomo Walkway, a hike that was recommended by others. To be blunt, I was underwhelmed with the first part of the trail. My recommendation, and what I will do if I get a chance, is simply walk through the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve rather than doing the entire Walkway.
If you haven't guessed already, there is a reason why the Waitomo Caves area is a very popular destination for NZ tourists (bus loads visit the glow worm cave). Next stop, the Northlands.
Kidd Family New Zealand Observations:
We had a very choice day.
Not all caves are scary.
We are not the only unique birds in New Zealand.
I think Karen is brave! I still think caves are scary places.
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