Zealandia in Wellington

 We went to the nature preserve here in Wellington called Zealandia. We took the free shuttle to the bus stop where we caught the bus to the preserve. Of course, we had to walk the wrong way to the preserve from the bus stop. Luckily a native was walking down the steep hill and corrected us. New Zealand is fairly well protected and didn't have a lot of predators until humans introduced the cat, stout, mice and possum. They are trying to deter these unnatural predators in this area with special fences. It has been working and the dying species are coming back. We were able to see several species of birds, lizards and such as we walked the paths. The trees and rivers were beautiful as well. Even though the plants didn't move, we had a hard time trying to figure out what they were. All day long we kept wishing that Lauren was here to help.

The first was a diving duck that would swim underwater to escape scary cameras and predators.


The Keraru that I actually spotted as it was a big bird less than 3 feet in front of me

a fantail. Here's both the front and the back side of him.



A parrot, another large bird 3 feet in front of us that we could easily spot

More cool birds- this one was all black. Lauren would know its name if she was here
This black bird had a red beak and red feet. How cool is that?!



A lizard I found when I was sunning myself in the sun

This lizard was kind enough to pose by it's sign. Wish all animals did that.

The cicadas who chirped so nicely
The vegetation was pretty awesome as well. This tree looked like it had suction cups going up the trunk.
The stream we followed for a while
A really cool palm, the only one in New Zealand, that can live 1000 years. As it grows, the roots become a trunk.
Just the beauty of the trees and shades of green.


Wellington is build on a bunch of hills, or clifts if you want to call them that. Zealandia was in a valley between two hills near the top. We took the cable car down from near there, only a 5-10 minute bus ride. The view from the cable car of the harbor was great.



















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