We decided to go home via Hawkes Bay and check out the e car charging stations on that side of the island. After a night at Masterton where we woke to see snow on the ranges, we called into the Pukaha Mount Bruce Visitor Centre where a dedicated bunch of people are working to ‘restore and protect the 942 hectare Pukaha reserve.’
One of the residents at Pukaha is ‘a North Island Kokako named Kahurangi, who has been hand reared and is imprinted and unable to be released into the wild. She loves people and will often be heard wolf whistling through the park.’ She can also say kokako, as clear as any human.
The free flight aviary is home to kaka, kakariki, tui and whio the blue duck.
Giant eels know what time lunch is served.
Another of the special residents is Manukura, a white kiwi.
‘On 1 May 2011 Manukura, little white kiwi, hatched. This was a delightful surprise to the rangers and team at Pukaha as she is the first white kiwi to hatch here and, as far as we know, the first white kiwi to hatch in captivity.
Manukura is not albino (where there is a lack of melanin that makes pigmentation white and features pink eyes) she is pure white which means she is the rare progeny of two parents who carry the recessive white feather gene.’
Snow and windmills decorate the ranges.
The 2 windmills in the centre danced in sync.
Check out the Wildlife Centre here – http://www.pukaha.org.nz/
Absolutey beautiful Wendy. Took Martin to Pukaha while over home a while ago, he loved it, I hadn’t been there since a kid on a school trip till then!! The wind farms on the “Tararua Ranges” look lovely & alway remind me of home a bit just like the TV tower on Whariti Peak in the Ruahine Range always do!! (Whenever I see Whariti whether it be from east or west……. I always get that proud feeling of being “home”).
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Thanks Pete. Whariti had snow too. It’s funny the things that remind you of home.
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