This past Sunday, we when to Kapiti Island. It is a nature reserve about an hour north of where we live, just off the coast. Birds are everywhere. It was like walking through a giant aviary. We also saw the rare taheka which looks like an ancient blue chicken.

We had to take the Te Aihe ferry to the island. We wanted to go to the North End. However, the boat captain didn’t drop us off at the right location. So, we got to hike up and down a mountain in the middle of the island instead. If we ever go again, we’ll use the other ferry service.

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Another hike another light house. The only light house in New Zealand to have a female lighthouse keeper. Mary jane Bennett was the wife of the previous keeper, George Bennett, who drowned in the harbor in 1855.

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The Petone Winter Carnival is kind of like a mini Burning Man. Sideshows, burlesque, and impromptu wooden sculptures on the beach are set ablaze at nightfall. It was somewhat hard to be impressed coming from a culture where novelty and spectacle are carried to the n-th degree, but it was nice because everything was on a more human scale.

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For the first time in a long time, it was almost sunny on a Saturday. Naturally, we celebrated outdoors. We went to Queen Elizabeth Park, which is known for it’s mature costal forest, tram (which is one small car on an equally small track), horse stables, model aeroplane club and most importantly sand dunes. We were sold on the sand dunes and took our camera for the special occasion. To our dismay, the glorious sand dunes were covered in native plants. So, we enjoyed more rolling hills by the sea.

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Last weekend we went out for a walk to Red Rocks. Apparently the Maori believe that Kupe, yes the same Kupe that was hunting a giant octopus in one of our previous posts, came here hunting for shellfish. One clamped his hand and his blood stained the rocks red.

Besides a location for the misadventures of the famous Polynesian explorer, Red Rocks is known for it’s New Zealand fur seal young bachelors who were unsuccessful at achieving the status of breeding male in South Island colonies.

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