The morning after our Franz Josef Glacier hike, we desperately wanted to sleep in, and we did, and it was wonderful. Our time in Franz Josef was the perfect mix of total relaxation and exciting experiences, which has made it one of my favorite places we've visited so far. This day continued in that vein!
After our leisurely morning, we went our separate ways in the afternoon. Jordan and Kara went off to do some walks in the Okarito Lagoon, which they will tell you all about:
Jordan says, after we finished our lunch and split up for activities, Kara and I lazed a bit more until we headed out to the Okarito Lagoon in the rainy afternoon. We just wanted to get out of the hostel for a bit, and we had no great expectations for the walks in the area. The sun was breaking through as we arrived, and the rain did not start up again until we got back to the car. The town of Okarito ended up being a very nice looking small community, and we had no idea that we would be in for a special treat on our stroll.
I, on the other hand, was feeling walked-out, and also we were starting another overnight hike the next day. Knowing nothing of amazing keas, I took myself off to the West Coast Wildlife Center. Not to worry though-- an amazing experience was in store for me as well! The Center is the home of Operation Egg Nest, which is working to preserve New Zealand's rarest kiwi, the Rowi. In what must now be a familiar refrain, there are only about 400 left. The job for Rowi conservationists is a bit easier, though: stoats will eat chicks, and there is only about a five percent one-year survival rate for Rowi chicks in the wild, but full grown Rowi can fend off a stoat easily. Also, Rowi chicks are born with the correct feeding instincts, and they do not imprint on humans. That means that Rowi eggs can be removed from their nest, hatched at the West Coast Wildlife Center, and then returned to the wild to live a natural life once they reach 1 kilogram in weight!
The Center is a public/private partnership with the Department of Conservation, which means that you can pay to go in and see a few of the kiwis that will be returned to the wild soon. If you pay a bit more, you get a backstage tour where you get to see the incubation area and where Kim the Kiwi Ranger will give you some information on the kiwis and how they're being saved. I found a deal on the discount website bookme.com and did the backstage tour, and I AM SO HAPPY I DID.
About 75 chicks hatched there this year, and Kim estimated that only 6 of these had hatched during the day. It takes a kiwi about 5 days to hatch, and they have an 80 day incubation period. My tour was at the end of the breeding season, and there were only two eggs still being incubated. Somehow, I just happened to book it for the exact last thirty minutes that the second-to-last chick was coming out of his egg!!! So I got to watch him hatch (on a video of his incubator, so as not to disturb him) and then Kim brought him out for us to take a look.
Oh my actual god.
The tour was so great for that alone, but Kim also imparted some amazing information. For example, male kiwis are the ones who sit on the nest usually, because a kiwi egg weighs 20% of the females' body weight. Imagine giving birth a six year-old! So as soon as the egg is laid, she is out and about eating as much as possible. Female kiwis weight slightly more and have a longer snout, as well as a different call to male kiwis. But best of all, I got to learn all about baby kiwis-- how they hatch (they don't use their beak- only their leg and back muscles) and what can go wrong when they hatch (bad positioning) and how Kim helps them out when things do go wrong (she can only help at the last minute, otherwise the chick might not fully internalize the yolk and could die from malnutrition). I also got to see another couple babies, who were about 22 days old and very active!
Our time in Franz Josef has been completely filled with one amazing experience after the other, and I'm feeling really sad to leave. Still, tomorrow we are off to start the Copland Track (weather permitting) where we will walk to a natural hot spring! The experiences continue. :)