Tag Archive for 'tramp'

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sanctuary

Published on January 27, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

today we went to the karori wildlife sanctuary.

in the truly amazing category it is a 252 hectare (623 acre) predator free native forest and wildlife sanctuary only 2 km from the wellington city centre. started in 1992 as just a concept of jim lynch of royal forest & bird – by 1999 he had formed a trust, secured the land, design and erected a 8.9 km (5.5 mile) predator fence. a year later they had eradicated the invasive pests and began releasing a long list endangered native species including tuatara and little brown kiwi – both previously extinct on the nz mainland and both thriving in the sanctuary.

we were lucky enough (turns out very lucky) to see a tuatara (below left) on our tramp. these dudes are straight out of a dinosaur movie.

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you can see the predator fence running up the ridge (above right). next time you’re exhausted with a project out in the yard just remember this effort. first you clear a 3 meter wide track through the forest. then you dig a hole for the fence post. only 8,799 more to go. now you’re ready to haul up the materials and actually build the fence.

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you can see wellington harbour at the end of the valley.

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the area the sanctuary occupies has a great history. in the early settler days it was wellington’s main water supply. the gazebo in the photo above is actually the water master’s house suspended over the reservoir.

we spent several hours there and only saw a tiny piece. we’re looking forward to going back often (as new members).

jim conceived, planned, pitched and realized an innovative wildlife sanctuary near the centre of wellington that is the only mainland home to numerous endangered species. idea to opening in 7 years.

i picked up some litter on my way to lunch.

thanks jim.
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grrrr

Published on December 29, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

great day today so i suggested we go to the zoo. looking at the google map it didn’t look that far so i proposed we walk.

the trouble started almost immediately. on all maps melbourne road is a nice straight road about 10 blocks long. in reality it is a series of very hilly one block long segments with a step step of stairs connecting each block. so we’re getting quite the workout on what looked to be the easy part of the journey. when i printed out the map i though it odd that google had us taking a right on jackson st and heading backwards for a bit when there was another road that was much shorter that went through the park. when we get to jackson i declare “onward!” and we start looking for the path through the park. the first path we choose just disappears 100 meters into the woods. we backtrack and pick another path that looks promising. we’re heading up a steep path through the woods that is getting smaller and more overgrown the farther we go. at one point the path is complete blocked with thorny bushes and we’re forces to crawl under commando style.

let me admit here that since this excursion was my idea and i’m picking the route i view it as an adventure for all. if it were someone else’s journey i don’t expect i would be so generous in my assessment.

ultimately we reached a clearing at the top of the and are rewarded with a spectacular view of the island bay to the south and the city to the north.

after one more error by the navigator we arrived at the zoo.

i now carry a gps device that tags all my photographs with a location. a side-effect is that you can see your wanderings. you can see our drunken path to the zoo, our strolling around to exhibits and then our walk to the bus stop for the ride home.

growing up in saint louis with one of world’s best it is hard for any other zoo to stack up, but the wellington zoo did ok it it’s small town way. it is less than half the size of the stl zoo (13 hectacres [32 acres] compared to 77 acres) and most of the exhibits are not as modern, but the newest additions were promising.

the signage all had a blend of kiwi frankness and humour. one said “if you sit on the railing you will fall into the pen with the lion and you will die”.

i think the aussie kangaroo was a bit put off by being put on display in nz.