In my search for a job in Queenstown, I emailed the Kiwi Birdlife Park to see about work. When Brad’s family visited back in November, we went here and saw all sorts of cool NZ birds including a kiwi! I can’t lie, seeing that iconic little beast set my heart aflutter. There weren’t any jobs available, but the guy I was emailing suggested their volunteer program. I’ve kind of been so wrapped up in being abroad that frankly I forgot volunteering existed, but was happy to have the opportunity to support the park and give back to NZ. Brad and I met with Paul the volunteer coordinator on Wednesday, and today we were in behind the scenes supporting the park! Our project was fixing up the enclosure for 4 birds: the deepest diving duck called a scaup, shovellor ducks, oyster catchers, and a black stilt who happened to be one of only 140 in the world. We put on some "gummies" (rain boots) and dug rocks from the center of the pond and moved them to the outside to prevent flooding and to give the scaups some depth to dive. It was hard work, but being in with the birds was cool and when were done the little baby scaups got to dive for the first time! They were so sweet, it made it all very rewarding.
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| The black stilt, 1 of 140 in the world |
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| Me and the oyster catchers chillin' |
Scaups enjoying their new deep pond:
On the way home we took a little plunge in the old lake:
And decided to hike the path up home to enjoy some amazing views (and some crazy looking tree roots):
Now I’m just counting down the days (7!) until my parents, sis, and BroLo come!
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