First stop was Whangarei, capital of Northland and the only place worth calling a city. It's a pretty spread out city and that means a lot of walking for us backpackers without a car. The first day I did one hell of a walk (in 27° weather mind you) but it was definitely worth it. I walked up to Whangarei falls, an idyllic spot where the river drops about 20m over a basalt rock. I followed the river down stream through native bush until I got to a Kauri tree park with a canopy walk. It's not really a canopy walk, the bridges aren't up in the leaves but about halfway up the trees. That's still 15m high. Those Kauri trees are gigantic. I was really happy to be in a good forest again. After the forest I walked up to Abbey Caves, 3 limestone caves free for all to explore without a guide. It is massive fun to crawl in and out of those caves, climbing over rocks and splashing through underground streams. All the caves have glow worms and I finally had the chance to test a little fact I read about glow worms. I switched off my torch and I started to play the harmonica. After half a minute the glow worms started to shine brighter and brighter. Do glow worms have good taste in music? Not really, the vibrating sound waves make them think insects are near and they shine brighter to lure the insects in their nets. But still, playing for a few 100 glow worms is the best gig I ever played.
The next day I went to the native bird sanctuary. Peter, the owner of the hostel I stayed in, is a big donator of the sanctuary and that is why only travellers who stay in his hostel get a grand tour of the sanctuary. The sanctuary treats every injured bird you bring to them and they release them in the wild again when they're fit. About 1300 birds a year. They also hatch Kiwi eggs people find on their lands. Kiwi chicks have to look after themselves a week after they're born, but they are still very small and easy prey for stoats and possums. Kiwi chicks in the wild have a survival rate of 1 in 50. Kiwi chicks that are born in the sanctuary go to a pest free island until they're big enough to fight of predators and then they are released in the wild again. Adult kiwi's have no natural enemies except humans and their dogs.
Robert Webb, the founder of the sanctuary is a great man. His love for the birds is immense You can see that by the way he handles the birds. And some birds show their love for Robert by returning to him. He has a Pukeho and a little owl that both returned to him after they were set free. They now live as pet birds in the sanctuary. Robert also has a Tui and a Kiwi who are too badly injured to release them again. The Tui lost an eye and the Kiwi lost a leg in a stoat trap (oh the irony). Both animals stay in the sanctuary for educational purposes. Tui's are wonderful birds, they got 2 voice chambers allowing them to make a high and a low sound at the same time. Their song is beautiful, constantly jumping tones. It sounds a bit like R2D2 on speed. The Tui can even talk. While caring for his birds Robert talks to them and that's how the Tui learned some phrases. And now the Tui teaches other Tui's that are brought in to talk. It's really funny to hear. The Kiwi Robert has is the only one in New-Zealand you can touch. All the other Kiwi's are in wildlife parks behind glass, or in the wild. And Kiwi's in the wild are sacred, New-Zealanders will lynch you if you try to catch one. But Roberts Kiwi is a rock star. He flies all over New-Zealand to go to schools where kids pet him and learn more about him. Robert also showed us a little blue penguin that was brought in a few days earlier. They are so cute. I never thought I would ever get so close to a Penguin and a Kiwi here in New-Zealand, it was a wonderful afternoon.
Whangarei Falls
River walk to the Kauri park
Outside Abbey Caves
Inside Abbey Caves
Robert Webb and his Kiwi
Little blue penguin
Wow!
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hopelijk tot snel!