Nga Manu, Take One - Night 71

Today’s destination was the Nga Manu, a bird

sanctuary/nature reserve just outside of Waikanae. The hour long drive took us over the Tararua Range, through Paraparaumu and up the scenic west coast. As I was riding shotgun, the DJ duties fell on my shoulders. Believe it or not, this was the first time in my life I had to operate an Ipod. They are surprisingly intuitive, though I still don’t think I’ll buy one.

Nga Manu

We arrived around 10 and didn’t get going until well after 10:30. The employees at Nga Manu are a relaxed bit, to say the least. Once we got moving, Rees gave us a twenty minute demonstration/talk on the Tuatara, one of the last (maybe the last) remaining dinosaur still alive today. Once we finally got to work, we spent the remainder of the day cleaning and clearing the main walking track through the reserve. Trimming encroaching plants, picking up dead ferns, cutting down massive vines; the work was easy and enjoyable, though could have been accomplished with a group of four, not seven.

Jake, Lauren and I had been convinced by some of the office interns to participate in one of their fundraising events tonight. Called Socializing with a Soul, it was a simple random dinner get together with a bunch of unknown people from Wellington who were also will to donate $15 to a fund currently going towards a Vietnamese orphanage. The location was Monsoon Poon, a classy Indo-Thai fusion restaurant in trendy Courtney Place. We were expecting 10 or 11, only 6 showed up, three of them being us volunteers. Despite the low turnout, the food was excellent and evening enjoyable. One of the girls who came, Sarah, is originally from Couer d’Alene, Idaho and went to school in Moscow, ID. She was quite surprised to find that I had actually lived in Moscow. Just another example of how small the world is.

What I Learned Today: Endemic to New Zealand, Tuataras are only found on 60 or so off-shore islands around the country. The likely once covered the mainland as well, but introduced predators such as weasels and dogs have killed them off. Small creatures with amazing slow metabolisms, the oldest living tuatara is near 100 years old and since they were only discovered in the early 1900s, no one knows how old they can actually live. They lay eggs that take years to hatch, are known to be cannabilistic, and have little to no endurance. Being cold blooded, as Rees held one its temperature slowly warmed up and you could see it starting to become more active, finally to the point where he had to put it back or it would have escaped. Nga Manu is lucky enough to have a dozen or so Tuataras, which have all been implanted with radio microchips. Given their rarity, the black market value is very high and in recent years many people have unsuccessfully (and likely some successfully) tried to flee the country with some of the creatures.

written by

exumenius on December 20, 2007 from Wellington, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos

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