Journey to Akaroa

We left this morning for Akaroa. Before we made it too far, we stopped for tea at the Little River Café and Gallery to defrost from the cold, wet weather. From there, we made a quick pit stop at Akaroa Harbour in an attempt to see where we would have been eating lunch, had it not been so dreary out. Along the way, we saw a couple rainbows and stopped for some locally made cheese.

(say "cheese")

We pulled off at Onawe Pa Historic Reserve to see the hardened lava. 

 On the drive out, we saw a king fisher, black necked stilts and some black/red bill gulls. Once in Akoroa, we ate lunch and had the opportunity to do some shopping. Then we drove up to Kit and Rob’s house to hear more about the Tuis. All of the tuis were extirpated in the 1980’s, but in a recent attempt to bring them back, they have been introduced in Hinewai which isn’t far from Akaroa. Due to the warm weather and gum trees that the birds like, some of the tuis have moved to Akaroa and today we saw many. To help benefit the Banks Peninsula Trust, bird feeders with sugar water have been made out of wine and beer bottles. The bottle is mounted on a piece of wood with a branch sticking out underneath. As long as there is water in the feeder, it keeps the drinking dish replenished. 

(only birds with longer beaks/tongues can drink from it)

(tui drinking the sugar water)

 Part of the tui restoration is tagging the birds and giving them names. People can pay to name the birds and proceeds benefit the trust. After thanking Kit and Rob for allowing us to view the tuis around their home, we drove to the Garden of Tane to meet up with John McElroy. He showed us one of the morepork boxes that the MENZSHED group build. The boxes are meant to give the moreporks a safe place to nest. Hoisted up on a monkey puzzle tree, we saw one of the bird houses. 

 Both moreporks and Dr. H enjoy grubbing on the huhu beetle! 

We settled in to our backpackers, warmed up some dinner, and played a couple rousing games of cards. Can't wait to see what Hinewai has in store for us tomorrow. 

~Amber