A Bird and an Almond

There comes a time in everyones life where you freeze in your tracks and think: Wow...that hard work really paid off for this one moment. I had one of those moments yesterday at work. I was walking up the valley by myself for the first time when I saw Matu, the Conservation Team Member that I look up to. I saw him standing by the Kaka Bird Feeders with a bag of almonds and a cage. Upon inquiring about what he was doing, I found out that there was a Kaka with a foot disease that needed to be brought over to the Wellington Zoo for treatment. I was in awe to see Matu standing inches away from the feeder, with three Kakas standing on it. He extended his arm and began to hand feed the birds almonds. It was the most incredible thing to see because these birds are so large and beautiful. Matu recognized my amazement, and brought me close to the feeder, handed me an almond, and allowed me to feed two Kakas! It was such an amazing and foreign feeling to have a bird eat out of your hand. It was at that moment that I understood his passion for the birds.

That day, I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Zoo with the Kaka. I went with Brian, the director of Conservation Education at the Sanctuary. The people at the Zoo were very kind, and gave us a tour of their new veterinary facility as well as exhibits that pertain to native New Zealand species. I saw my first Kiwi at the Zoo and it was so cool!

Last night was a great night with my four roomates! We went out for dinner at a great Italian restaurant, and then went over to the other intern apartment to meet up with the other guys for a while. We then continued our evening by going to Coyote, the place to be on Courtenay Street, and came back to the apartment to watch the Matrix, for two consecutive weekends in a row.

This morning, I was so happy to talk to my brother, Brett, for the first time since I got here. Although Skype did not work, we managed to get on the phone with each other and have a nice conversation. After, Jeni and I went on a cleaning rampage, and cleaned the kitchen, which was well needed. That was followed by a trip to the New World supermarket, and a homemade fresh mozzarella sandwich! This afternoon, everyone took a nice hike up to the summit of Mt. Victoria. It was beautiful, and we could see the whole City of Wellington, in addition to some amazing mountains and the ocean.

Today, I also learned that I will be starting a new internship on Tuesday at the Clyde Quay School, a public school in Wellington, working with the 5 and 6 year olds! I am very excited to work there for four weeks! When the kids go on holiday (break) after next week, I will go back to Zealandia to help out the Conservation Education team with their holiday programs!

More hiking adventures to come!