The Karori Sanctuary, Wellington

The Karori Sanctuary offer an opportunity to see New Zealand's rarest animal dan wildlife in its natural environment. Tucked away in a forrest-clad valley just ten minutes from Central Wellington. We can go there by hire a car or by cable car.

By bus is the cheapest choice, we can buy the day tripper ticket with five dollars New Zealand. Day tripper ticket is designed to give us freedom to go around Wellington by using one ticket. In every bus station we will able to get off and caught bus anywhere that we want by show the ticket to the driver.

The Karori Sanctuary is the place to protect original New Zealand wildlife. Kiwi is one of them. Tour provide us encounters with birds and reptiles normally just found on offshore island, and a chance to learn about unique vision to turn back the clock to the time before humans arrived.

Walking track is include a cruise accros the lower lake and change to look New Zealand's living dinosaur the Tuatara. The best time to running the tour is when darkness has settled, if we lucky we can see the New Zealand's national mascot, that is Kiwi. Over 100 Kiwi live in this park, so there is a good change of spotting one.

There are differences of price between day and night tours. We can go there in day time and the ticket to enter there only NZ$ 14, but in the night we have to pay more, Nz$ 60 to see Kiwi birds.

The Kiwi Bird, New Zealand's Native Bird

Kiwi are the New Zealand's native bird, they are the national bird of New Zealand. Because of the name of the bird, New Zealanders or the people who live in New Zealand are well known as Kiwis.

The kiwi as a symbol first appeared in the late 19th century in New Zealand regimental badges. It was later featured in the badges of the South Canterbury Battalion in 1886 and the Hastings Rifle Volunteers in 1887. Soon after, kiwis appeared in many military badges, and in 1906 when Kiwi Shoe Polish was widely sold in the UK and the USA the symbol became more widely known.

During the First World War, the name "kiwi" for New Zealand soldiers came into general use, and a giant kiwi, (now known as th The Bulford Kiwi), was carved on the chalk hill above Sling Camp in England. Use has now spread so that now all New Zealanders overseas and at home are commonly referred to as "kiwis".

The kiwi has since become the most well-known national symbol for New Zealand, and kiwis are prominent in the coat of arms, crests and badges of many New Zealand cities, clubs and organizations. The New Zealand dollar is often offered to as The Kiwi.

Actually, Kiwi is the nocturnal bird. They get out from their nest and feed in the night. The national bird is a threatened species. Most New Zealanders probably have never seen a live kiwi, and if so it was likely in a kiwi house.

These bird is flightless, it was the main reason why they become rare easily. They are the endangered species in the world. To protect the endangered Kiwi, a number of trusts and protection program have been set up. These including in Karori Sanctuary, The National Park that was set up in Wellington. We can see them in The Karori Sanctuary at the night. The price to enter the park are NZ$ 60, not too expensive to see the endangered bird. The map explain about the habitat of Kiwi.

Botanical Garden, Wellington NZ

Karori Sanctuary, New Zealand