Nga Manu Nature Reserve

We woke up early on Sunday morning and the rain was coming down like crazy, so no time was to be spent at the beach! Oh well, we were both a little red from the previous day. I guess I should use a 30 instead of an 8.

We stopped by the tourist information centre to see if they might have some suggestions as to what to do on a rainy day by the sea. The nice older lady suggested we could attend a church service, or maybe to church. She gave us some great directions, maybe we both looked like pagans or heathens.

We decided not to go with the church tour and thought a trek through the nature reserve would be pretty cool. Nga Manu Nature Reserve is 35 acres of coastal lowland swamp forest an provides visitors like us the change to see native plants, Tuatara, birds, lizards and all kinds of other wild beasts. We spent a few hours walking around spotting interesting birds and of course feeding the ducks (which I love to do, Francois not so much). Actually Francois has a fear of birds, looking at his face when a bird got too close was reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

Two birds that I really enjoyed seeing were the Fantail and the Tui. The Tui is an extremely intelligent, and resemble parrots in their ability to mimic human speech. They are known for their noisy, unusual call that combines bird like notes, cracks, growns, moans, you name it. I wondered if the bird wanted a smoke after listening to him.

Fun......