Zealandia (Karori Sanctuary)...rediscovery of the huia?

Well a good day in Wellington...overcast and cool this morning which was a big change for us.  We had a city tour in the morning, checking out a few of the local sights, as well as Te Papa.  Went and had a look at the colossal squid, which to be honest was a little underwhelming in size, but pretty cool to see nonetheless.

Then caught up with my good mate Nick Allan for lunch at the pretty trendy (but excellent lunch spot and food) Caffe L'affare.  Then back to the ship and off to Zealandia which used to formerly be known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.  The sun was gradually creeping through, and we had an excellent couple of hours walking the tracks in search of some of the bird species.  In a relatively short time we managed to notch up saddleback, stitchbird, kaka, red-crowned parakeet, North Island robin, brown teal, tui, bellbird, fantail, grey warbler, and silvereye, as well as four species of shag, NZ scaup, and even a couple of tuatara sunning themselves.  Not too shabby.  For a moment I thought I had rediscovered a population of huia, but alas they were stuffed and behind glass!  Oh well, guess one extinct species (New Zealand storm-petrel) will have to do for now...

Crikey!