Two Types of Wellington Wildlife

I got to observe two types of Wellington wildlife yesterday. In the afternoon I did my voluntary job to raise money for our dragon boat team. This involves being part of the liquor management team at Westpac Stadium, more fondly known as the Cake Tin. I was given a bar outside the 'Yellow Fever' stadium entrance. My job is to stand there and make sure everyone is enjoying themselves - but not too much. We ensure IDs are being checked, that people only have 4 bottles of alcohol about their person and that they are happy - but not too happy. The Phoenix Football Team were playing West Sydney. It was a family day with free entry for kids so the atmosphere was congenial. The weather was not that congenial so people were more interested in hot chips and coffees than booze which made my job easy. The Phoenix were playing - but following the theme of the day -  not playing too much. The weather was subdued, the team was subdued and the crowd was subdued - no shirts off and wild waving with ten minutes to go today. I finished up  and strolled out into the low foggy cloud, gusty winds and high humidity. Some would call it rain.

    Two hours later I had  changed job and uniform and was ready to head out into Zealandia as Tail End Charlie. My first job was to start the film in the exhibition. No Americans in this night tour so no distress over the film. American tourists really do not like the graphic depiction of a moa being thumped by a taiaha or the huia being shot. The rest of the world seem to take it in their stride, the mainly English group tonight being no exception.
We went quickly into Flip Flop the kiwi's territory and he rewarded us by casually browsing and feeding near us. We also saw the back end of his mate tootling up the path. Its always a relief to get an early sighting as that is the highlight for the tour party. Once we have spotted a kiwi, we can relax and enjoy the other delights of Zealandia by night. Kiwi calls in the foggy night added an ethereal feeling to the valley, with the low cloud cutting out other sounds as well as any reflective city lights.

The Maud Island frogs were out and about in their boxes covered with mesh. There are free roaming frogs in the valley as well as frogs in boxes. They are doing well in the Sanctuary and their progress is being studied as part of a researcher's PhD. They are tiny and fascinating, and nothing like the every- day frog of our imagination. They are a very ancient type of frog. They live in leaf litter and do not swim. They stay put in one area but are terribly hard to find as they are so well camouflaged. They give birth to live young - tiny little froglets - as there is no tadpole stage due to the fact there is no water to swim in. The baby froglets climb onto their father's back and are cared for until they are ready to strike out on their own.

Our tour group is fascinated and they spend an enthusiastic time using their little torches to spot frogs. The torches are red light torches to cut down distress on the animals we observe, and help people to rely more on their night vision and their hearing. Being quiet is encouraged and flash cameras are not allowed. A lovely atmosphere settle around the group as they discover glow worms, listen to ruru and lonely kiwi calls cutting through the night.
It is a very satisfied group of tourists and guides heading back to civilisation tonight.