Hey, everyone! This week wasn’t altogether too busy. The main objective of the weekend was to do two final shifts at Kiwi Park here in Queenstown. A grand finale of sorts. Read on!

Kiwi Park

I have been volunteering at Kiwi Park since around March, although it feels like longer. I originally set out to volunteer every Saturday. However, with quite a lot of weekend trips sprinkled in there, it wasn’t quite every weekend. And yet, it has been one of the highlights of living in Queenstown for me. To be able to care for and be surrounded by these birds was really something incredible.

So what did an average day look like? There really isn’t an average day at Kiwi Park, but it goes a little something like this…

I arrive at 8.30am and head to the office. After taking off my coat and grabbing a key, I go into one of the Kiwi houses. There are four separate enclosures. Usually a staff member is on the opposite side, taking care of two enclosures and I do the other two. At that point, the kiwi are all still asleep in their boroughs as it is “daytime” for them. I grab a hose and a gardening fork and proceed to dig the fork into the dirt, breaking it up so it is easier for the kiwi to dig into in search of insects.

I do this for the entire enclosure and once finished, I have a peep into the borough to make sure the kiwi is in there and alive. A wellness check of sorts. I then turn on the hose and water down the area. This is to water the plants, wash away the kiwi poop, but also to get the dirt moist. I’m not sure if this is each and every kiwi habitat in Aotearoa New Zealand but at least judging off of the ones in Rakiura/Stewart Island… they like a wet climate!

I love being able to peep on the kiwi during the wellness checks. But even more so, I love when I have the opportunity to feed them. More on that later.

After cleaning the kiwi enclosures, I go back to the office and check the whiteboard which typically has three or four activities assigned to me for the day. That could be to feed the red crowned parakeets or the kea or the kaka or the morepork owls or the geckos or the tuatara, etc., etc. It could also be cutting down some plant stems to use in different enclosures or chopping fruit for the birds or painting wood, etc. Whatever the park needs help with!

On Saturday, I fed the kiwi, kea, kaka, and Antipodes Island parakeets. On Sunday, I forked the outdoor kiwi enclosure, fed the kaka, the red crowned parakeets and kereru, the tuatara. The process is pretty much the same for all of the enclosures. Take out the old food, hose down the enclosure, bring in the new food. Of course, all the birds get different portions of food. For instance, I wouldn’t be feeding the red crowned parakeets the same portions as the kea. Luckily, the staff weighs everything out and puts the food in bowls for me. Oh, and while in the enclosures I obviously get the added perk of observing the birds.

The kaka are probably the most rambunctious. I always put the hood of my sweater over my head because they have a habit of flying onto my head and biting at my hair if its exposed hahaha. Not always, but… a lot of the times. It’s way more manageable when I have my hood up haha.

On Saturday, as I was feeding the kaka, one flew on my head and as I was setting down its food, it hopped down to my arm and then onto the surface which I had put the food. Using me as a stepping stool. Cutie!

And… the kea. I love the kea! They are such a large parrot and if you’ve been following along, you know how I had it as a goal to try and see them in the wild at Fiordland National Park. I’ve luckily seen them a number of times in the wild since that first experience back in November. And have been able to observe them at Kiwi Park, too. They are brilliant.

With the kea and kaka, they are both very intelligent birds so they need to be constantly stimulated. Before going to their enclosures, I usually grab a few knick-knacks to hide their food in. Sort of puzzles, if you will. Sometimes it’s a bottle inside a bottle filled with food, or a food container with a chain around it, hanging by a rope. I try to be creative with it, but the damn birds are so smart, they figure it out extremely quickly. But still, at least they were stimulated!

The Antipodes Island parakeets have a special place in my heart because they were my very first bird enclosure at the park. In the enclosure, there were three parakeets and two Campbell Island teal. The teal are very skittish and never like to be near me. The parakeets are a little more curious at times.

But my favorite part of working at Kiwi Park was feeding the kiwi. Around 10.30 or 11am, the staff would put food in little tubes which then get pushed into the dirt inside the kiwi enclosures. The lights are turned off at that point, so it’s “nighttime” for the kiwi. I unlock the door, put some gum boots on, and climb inside the enclosures. I think at the end of my volunteering stint at Kiwi Park, Kahukura ended up being my favorite kiwi. I would enter the room and as I was putting my gum boots on, she would pop her beak over the edge of the enclosure (basically a two-foot tall fence). It was as if she was greeting me (even though I knew she really could just smell the food).

So, I would climb into the enclosure and be very, very careful not to step on the kiwi. I would have some really cute moments with them. Sometimes, Kahukura would nudge my finger with her beak while I was in the process of setting down her food. Or like on Saturday, Pako would get so excited, he would have a little Speedy Gonzalez moment and do a summersault over my foot. Other times, Korukoru would follow me around until I set down her food. Potu never paid me much attention at all haha.

It took me until about a week ago to finally memorize all their names. I don’t know why it was so hard to do that.

All the kiwi seem to have unique personalities. I really enjoyed spending time with them.

On Saturday, I gave Lexi a drawing I had made for them all at Kiwi Park – as a gesture of thanks for teaching me so much and letting me work there. I originally was going to bring it on Sunday but since Lexi was the one who trained me on my first day, and she wouldn’t be working Sunday, I figured it was suitable to present it to her (even though it was for “everyone” at the park).

I felt very privileged to be entrusted to help care for these taonga (treasures). Everyone seemed really pleased with the drawing. On Sunday, Suria gave me a kiwi-themed notebook with a little note that thanked me for helping out at the park.

Saturday was my final day with the girls – Lexi, Beth, Madison. At one point, they all went out to check on something together and I saw them from the window. They were taking turns jumping in the air and clicking their heels. What a nice parting memory of them. (Although, that said, I did have individual goodbyes with each of them after the fact.)

Sunday was the boys. Hunter, Matt, and me.

At the end of my shift, I went to watch the Conservation Show one more time. Suria talked about the tuatara. I may have learned this at one point or another but if I did, I’d forgotten… but she mentioned how tuatara can potentially live up to over 200 years old. Wild! They are juveniles until they are 30 years old. Tuatara are not regarded as lizards, but are in a class all of their own. They were around before even dinosaurs. How crazy is that?

She talked about possums and how the possums in New Zealand have evolved to become… a super-possum. They are now omnivorous and can’t be reintroduced to Australia because they’d be competing with the other possums. Damn possums! (Although, in Australia, I loved them haha. They’re such pests here, since they eat a lot of bird eggs which obviously is a problem.)

I also learned that adult kiwi can rupture organs – their legs are that strong! It usually takes three people to capture a kiwi to tag it (for conservation-y purposes, monitoring their breeding etc. since they are endangered).

After the conservation show, it was time to wrap it up. After months of volunteering at the park, my time was coming to a close.

I had a few more things I wanted to do. First – the pāteke (brown teal) had chicklings! If you’ll remember, there was a kiwi egg that was incubating a few months back (which sadly didn’t make it through). Instead, I got to see some little chicks. Alright, I’ll take it.

I also went through the kiwi house one final time. I let my eyes adjust to the dark and then I looked for all four of them. I said a silent goodbye.

And of course, to say goodbye to the Antips (Antipodes Island parakeets). I went into their enclosure to say goodbye. They didn’t really care haha. One of them did chew at my shoe a little bit, something it had never done before.

And lastly, the kea. It was interesting to see how differently they behave later in the day versus when I feed them first thing in the morning. They seem much more interested when I’m cleaning their enclosure – coming nearer to me, especially once I have the food. Now, they were tucked away in the back of the enclosure as the sun rose high up in the sky. They observed me stoically, but made no movement otherwise.

Part of me had a momentary melancholy. It was sort of the first phase of my nearing departure in Queenstown. One of my routines here in this town I’ve lived in for the past nine months, coming to a close. There will be more.

As I walked out of the park, I casually looked over into the skink enclosure. Since I’d worked there, I had NEVER spotted the skink. But this time, there it was, sunbathing on a rock. Just as quickly, it darted into a crevice. At least I got to see it.

I took one last glance at Kiwi Park and then off I went.

Thank you to the staff of Kiwi Park who taught me so much. It was honestly an honor and a pleasure helping out on Saturdays. I loved learning from you, loved being with the animals, and appreciated that you all trusted me to take care of these beautiful creatures of New Zealand.

x

Friend Things

On Tuesday, I went out with Vale, Nittsy, and Katy to celebrate Vale’s birthday. Dara and Kenya came out for a moment, too. And Vale’s friend Kamila was there celebrating her birthday. We went to Cowboy’s, Sundeck, and then Local for a little bit. It was a cute night and nice to be out with them. We haven’t properly been out together probably since summertime, back when the vibe in town was different and everyone was going out almost every night.

We ran into Emily and Jake at Sundeck and chatted with them for a little bit. Emily just gave her notice at the hotel and will be leaving in November. It seems that the next mass exodus is well on its way.

I saw Emily again on another night. Lauren invited me to her house up in Goldfield Heights. Cammy, Lauren, Phoenix, Emily, Emma, and I all hung out for a while. We watched rugby and caught up. I haven’t seen Cammy in a few weeks, basically since he left the hotel. I didn’t stay that long since my social battery was kind of drained. I’ll write more on that in the Reflections section.

Miscellaneous

I recently bought curtains for my van so I can sleep in there without being woken up by the sun. That’s a win! I think I will likely stay in there quite a lot while traveling around the country. I’ll stay in a hostel maybe once a week. Good way to save money and get the proper “camper van” experience.

I saw the aurora… TONIGHT! Just briefly, a few beams and wisps to the naked eye.

By the time I got to my spot, the activity had waned and the structure of the aurora fizzled into a discreet blob. I decided to come back to the hostel to warm up and type this. I will try to go out again in a little while if activity looks better. It’s a shame, because the figures all day were looking SO GOOD!!! Alas. (P.S. my friends Joey and Rob had seen the aurora as well in Illinois! V cool. I told them “you guys saw the northern lights, I saw the southern on the same day!”)

Recently, I nearly stopped in my tracks when I nearly bumped into a giant bumblebee. I haven’t seen them in a long while now. Spring is coming soon, I think. I have seen some flowers beginning to sprout, too. The coldness of winter is easing up a little.

I also had a funny thought. I thought to myself, “Imagine this whole ass blog was fake and I was living in like Arkansas, just photoshopping pictures of myself?” Haha. That might make for an interesting short story. I assure you… I am in Queenstown.

Art of the Week

The drawing I’d done for Kiwi Park. Featuring a kea and kaka play-fighting, a kereru, an adult and baby kiwi, a morepork owl, Antipodes Island parakeet and a tui. This drawing is available on my RedBubble site if you’d like to order a shirt or button or magnet or sticker or WHATEVER!

Reflections

What to reflect on?

I have been feeling extremely socially drained lately. I think it’s because I have not had any time to just… not do anything. On weeknights, sure, but on weekends, there is always SOMETHING going on. Kiwi Park on Saturday mornings, some road trip or hike, or social event. I mean, I do this to myself. I am aware of that. I love doing these things. But I think my body is screaming at me to just rest, rest, rest. So that is honestly what the fuck I’m doing this weekend. I NEED TO. I need to just lay in my bed all day and not see a single person.

Even in the hostel, I feel I can’t be bothered anymore. Of course, I have friends that I care a lot about here, but I can’t be bothered to make friends with the new people haha. “I’ve had my time here,” I told Rose. She agrees. It’s time for the new kids to make friends, to form their own groups. Soon, I’ll be gone. What’s the point?

As of tomorrow, I have four weeks left in Queenstown. It feels like a while away but at the same time, it will be here in an instant. I think I’m ready.

Until next time, sending you all my love. xx