Wellington Zoo

Today John was called off of work due to not enough reservations. Since we had the time we went to the Wellington Zoo. It was a lot of fun and we FINALLY got to see a kiwi up close. It happened to be the first exhibit we walked to (although we did see some Gibbons along the way).

Once we got to the kiwi’s area the zookeepers were feeding and working behind the fence. The kiwis were running around in their pens. They were funny little things that made us laugh. We got a good view and they were close enough to touch, but we managed not to harass the animal. Here are some picture:



Afterwards we saw an Australian Pelican. The bird was a lot bigger than we expected. He did a little showing off by stretching his wings and going for a quick swim. Here is Marian with her new friend:



We then moved on to see the meerkats that were hiding next to the heat lamp under their rock. The lookout meerkat was shivering as he watched us. We then continued on our African safari and saw the gorillas, cheetahs, giraffes, and lions. The giraffe was impressive. We again got close enough to pet them and at that distance the size was much more impressive than either of us had remembered.

Here are the Meerkats:



We also saw some of the local Australasia animals too (dingos, kangaroos, wallabees, lizards, birds and so on). On the way out we stopped by the kiwis again but they were no where to be seen. Afterwards Marian went to work and John hung out with the flatties at home.