Day 82: Kiwi Encounter

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After a peaceful night's sleep, I mailed another package home (this one containing Coromandel in Colour and the other eyeglass lens) and then caught the bus to the Motat. The driver forgot I'd asked to be let off at the Motat, but I saw it go by so I only had to walk back a block.

I'd just missed a tram, and my main purpose in going to the Motat this time, other than to get the most out of my annual pass, was to take the tram to the zoo. So I had a hot choc at the Motat's tea room and then caught the 12:30 tram.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I was supposed to tell the conductor that I wanted to be let off at the Zoo. The driver did stop at the Zoo station, just as had happened in December, and I began to walk to the door to get off, but before I could step down the tram started up again.

Another passenger immediately pulled a cord on my behalf. I hope it was merely a stop request and not an emergency stop. The driver stopped, and the conductor bustled over and said, "Did somebody want something?" in a cross voice. I explained that I had been trying to get off at the Zoo.

I did not say that I hadn't been the one to pull the cord, and she obviously thought I had (which is why I really hope it wasn't the emergency stop). She asked if I wanted to get off now, and since the tram had stopped I thought I ought to. It meant yet another one-block walk back to my proper stop.

The zoo was nice, but except for the 2:00 showing of Native Fauna it wasn't really worth $20. There were lions and tigers and giraffes and zebras and rhinos. They were as well cared for as possible consistent with the zoo's being a zoo, with large enclosures similar to their native terrain and various enrichment materials.

At the Native Fauna show, they brought out a tuatara and a gecko and showed them to us from only an inch or two away. I'd been that close to the tuatara at Napier, but there'd been glass between us. There was also a native parakeet, which I swear I think she said was called a cockaleekie; I'd previously thought that was a type of soup.
The climax of the show was the display of a kiwi, about a yard away from the audience, and the announcement that we could use flash to photograph it.

I did not use flash, since I wanted to save the battery, but I did get some good pictures. The ranger said that the kiwi had been taking part in this show for years, and that it was used to being awake in the daylight. Kiwis are normally nocturnal.

By 3 p.m. I was getting sunburned and I had to go back to the hostel, though it took me an hour to do so. I caught both tram and bus without incident. I was sorry not to have another look at Motat's exhibits, especially Motat 2, and I could have done so, but I felt too tired to appreciate it. I may console myself by stopping by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum on the way home from the Amtrak station. At least that way I'll be able to get in another tram ride.

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Photos

"Wild" boar
Sow, actually.