Kiwis!

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Geo: -45.0311, 168.663

We walked through the Kiwi Birdlife Park here in Queenstown.
Got to see Kiwi's up close and lots of other native birds. New Zealand
does not have any native mammals other than 2 small bats. All other
mammals have been introduced and are destroying the native birds. The
Kiwi are especially threatened due to the stoats eating their eggs. At
the park, they have 2 breeding pairs. The one pair are both 10 years
old and will be released into the wild at the end of the year. The
other pair is a 3 year old female and a 5 year old male. They haven't
had any successful eggs yet, but one was in the incubator. We got to
see a Kiwi feeding and listen to the conservation show. It was a really
nice park. Then we took the gondola ride to the top of Ben's Peak. It
was a pretty steep ride, but I did not have a problem with it. At the
top is a cafe with a wonderful view of the city and was a perfect lunch
spot. After the gondola, we walked around the gardens and watched some
dogs playing in the water.

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