Save the Kiwis (the Bird, Not the Fruit)

This morning we visited the Mamaku Blueberry Winery on the outskirts of Rotorua. You might be thinking the morning is a bit early for wine tasting, and you’d probably be right. But we heard the café served tasty breakfasts. And they do! After a hearty breakfast of blueberry pancakes, blueberry crepes and tea for two, we sampled blueberry and gooseberry chutney, jam and chili sauce and tasted some blueberry wine and liqueur. They grow the blueberries and gooseberries at the winery and make everything there too. Yummy!

Now that our bellies were full of blueberries, we visited Rainbow Springs Nature Park and Kiwi Encounter. Normally, Greg refuses to visit anyplace that resembles a zoo. But Rainbow Springs isn’t your typical zoo. It has a number of natural springs that lead to the Lake Rotorua. The springs are filled with the largest rainbow trout we’ve ever seen, easily over 15lbs and over 25 inches long. And no they don’t give out fishing poles as you walk in. They also have several aviaries featuring native birds like the tui.

The highlight of the nature park is the kiwi conservation project. Because the kiwi bird is endangered, the nature park works with local park rangers to bring kiwi eggs from the wild to the safety of the park. In the wild, the eggs / baby kiwis have a 5% survival rate. The kiwis hatched at the park have an 80% survival rate. When the kiwi birds are old enough to fend for themselves, they’re released back where the eggs were found. We learned that kiwi eggs are very large. They’re about 20% of the kiwi’s body weight and laying the egg is equivalent to giving birth to a 35lb baby. Yikes! We think kiwis are cute in a funny-looking kinda way.