Kapiti Island

Best birthday present to myself ever - an overnight trip to Kapiti Island. I have a whole new appreciation and understanding of the bush clad island I see every day now that I have climbed it and walked among the trees. The bird life is amazing and we saw several rare and endangered birds such as hihi, saddleback/kieke, takahe and kokako.

Alison and I were very lucky to see the kokako. Sightings are infrequent but one flew across the path in front of us and landed on a low branch nearby. There were lots of kereru in the small trees near our cabin and they even graze on the grass in front of the cabins. Two old takahe (one is blind) live around the houses at the north end where we stayed and we saw them several times. The kaka are food thieves but one landed on my shoulder and sat there for a about a minute even though I wasn't holding any food. One had grabbed a biscuit from someone nearby and then a bunch of them turned up. A little robin hopped around us when we sat on the path and scratched at the leaf litter with a stick. It was so cute and so close. A weka pecked my thumb but I deserved that. I lured it over to me with a shiny chocolate wrapper. It pecked the wrapper a couple of times and when I wouldn't let go of the wrapper it pecked my thumb.  I still didn't let go of the wrapper!

I'm so pleased we stayed overnight and not just for the day. The weather was great, we met some lovely people (14 visitors stayed overnight and Wayne was a very friendly and informative host) and there was a great variety of birdlife.  We heard but didn't see kiwi, they are rather elusive at the moment, but the night walk in the bush was still interesting. It was a beautiful, still and starry evening, so quiet that we could hear weta in the bush. 

 

 

Kitchen Repaint

What a mission! Thank goodness I divided the kitchen repaint into three projects - 1) ceiling, 2) door & window frames, 3) kitchen cabinets. Now it's finished I'm pleased I chose to do the work myself rather than pay thousands of $$$ for new cabinets. Half way through sanding the inside of the kitchen cabinets I had second thoughts because it was a horrid, hot, messy and tiring job. Fortunately the cabinets are solid, good quality wood so after thorough preparation they look brand new in an original, retro, 1960s kind of way. 

 

Nasty Weather

What happened to summer? Yesterday it was 19°C and I enjoyed a pleasant cycle ride to and from work in very calm conditions.  Today it was 9.5°C at 2pm although  the Metservice said it 'felt like' 5°C due to the cold southerly. That blasting southerly caught my umbrella, turned it inside out and tried to carry it away. I managed to keep hold of it but the umbrella is completely wrecked and a spoke dug a hole in my thumb. 

Today's high temperature was at 2am this morning!

 

Zak likes MTB

A great video of Zak on his bike at Whareroa Farm on Good Friday. 

 

Easter Egg Hunt

Save Our Auckland Flights

I went to the rally at Paraparaumu Airport today to protest Air New Zealand cutting flights to the Kapiti Coast and to show support for Air Chathams to fill the void. I am usually a great supporter/customer of Air New Zealand but felt very disappointed in the way they dealt with the suspension of the Kapiti-Auckland flights. Not only did they make the announcement just five days after a big open day at the airport attended by over 1000 people but they only gave the community four weeks notice. The airport is only five minutes away from my house so even if I have to pay a bit more for an airfare it still works out cheaper and/or more convenient than traveling to Wellington Airport. 
Boo Air NZ; Go Air Chathams.

 

Park to Path Fun Walk

The sun was shining this morning and Zak had agreed to walk 6km with Nisa, Rayna and I. The Park to Path event was organised by the Kapiti Coast District Council and there were even participant numbers containing electronic tags so everyone's time could be recorded. The four of us started off at a walk but only three of us walked the whole way.  Within a few metres of the start line Zak strode off ahead off us and then I saw him running up the only hill on the course and disappearing off into the distance. About 25 minutes later he passed us as he returned along the trail to the finish line. Zak took only 33 mins to complete the 6k while Nisa, Rayna and I strolled over the finish line in 1h5m. He was very pleased when the times were posted and he saw that he was a top ten finisher.