A-well-a bird bird bird, b-bird’s the word

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of New Zealand is the kiwi so, naturally, seeing some in their native land was something we were determined to do. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to us that they are nocturnal and people who have lived in New Zealand all their life generally haven't ever seen one in the wild before. But we were still determined to see them so we headed to Rainbow Springs, a wildlife park in Rotorua and the largest kiwi conservation centre in New Zealand.

We decided to pay a bit extra to go behind the scenes and see all the amazing work they do to conserve the kiwi population in New Zealand. It was a very eye opening experience. I hadn't actually realised how endangered they are and how difficult it is to breed them, let alone for them to survive in the wild. Of course at the end of the experience, we finally got to see some kiwi and, even better, they were babies! So incredibly cute! Sadly, they don't allow photography (for obvious reasons), so to give you an idea of the cuteness, here's a token Google image of a kiwi.

I want one!
Via

Afterwards we went to see the bird show.

What's on your mind monkey butt?

(Okay, technically the bird in Home Alone 3 is a parrot, but hey, cockatoos can talk too!)

It was a fairly short but entertaining show with only four birds, including a cockatoo who can drop a coin in a piggy bank mid flight, and a macaw who can climb poles with its beak (and some assistance from its claws).

This guy is good with his mouth.

I do have to admit I was slightly disappointed they didn't bring out any owls or eagles like they do in some of the Australian zoos, but it was a very good show nonetheless. We spent our remaining time there wandering around taking way too many photos, particularly of ducks because they're so awesome.

Ducky cuddles

At the end of the day, we headed out to Lake Rotorua to have a wander. Even in the middle of residential streets, you can find evidence of geothermal activity wherever you look. In Australia, we have potholes. In Rotorua, they have steam vents where you can actually hear the boiling geothermal water bubbling underneath the road. Freaky yet fascinating at the same time.

Bubble bubble

To top off yet another wonderful day, we went to see the second Hobbit movie because you can never have enough Lord of the Rings when you're in New Zealand.

xx Kate-Lyn