Day #8 Zealandia, Wellington

Kaka #10 
Today was a fabulous day. We timed it perfectly with the free shuttles to Zealandia and made the 10 o'clock guided tour which was great. Of course once we knew where to go and what to see, we had a sandwich for lunch and then headed out again determined to tick off most of the birds on the map. Many of them have been reintroduced from other islands in NZ with the hihi being one of them - they had been extinct on the mainland since 1883, but Zealandia have given them a predator proof environment in which to exist which is fabulous. 
One of the noisiest birds we saw were the Kaka, a large parrot which are on the "at risk" list for the North Island - this is my main blip today as it was the sharpest. It was a bright day, but many of the birds we saw were in the forest where it made taking shots very difficult and thus many ended up very grainy. There are a few more in extras, but they are not great quality - the loud and numerous North Island Robin, the saddleback, the hihi and the bellbird. 
We caught the 4pm shuttle back to town and my husband managed to find a board games café on the way back, so he was very happy too! 

In the evening we were treated to our "Azamazing event" which this time was a performance from the Wellington Orchestra and the Signature choir in the New St Paul's cathedral. It was spectacular - beautiful pacific island voices and a magnificent orchestra. As regular Azamara clients we were in the VIP section which meant we got the get there first, had an exclusive reception at the back of the choir and then sat in the balcony seats for the performance - I like this VIP treatment! Of course it also meant that we were back on board first with no lines to wait in like some of the other passengers. But to be fair, it is VERY well organised and over 500 passengers were all bussed back to the ship in less than 30 minutes. 

A wonderful day...next stop, Nelson.