Nga Manu Nature Reserve

Last week we took our SLG friends to visit Nga Manu Nature Reserve in Waikanae – it was my turn to organise our outing this month.  It had been many years  since we had last been here, so it was certainly time for a return visit.  The reserve was the long held dream of zoo keeper Peter McKenzie, he used part of his inheritance from grandfather  (Sir John McKenzie, founder of the McKenzie’s chain stores and one of New Zealand’s early philanthropists), he decided to gift one-third of it for the establishment of Nga Manu, and the dream became a possibility.

A charitable trust, Nga Manu Nature Reserve has become a sanctuary for up to 60 different bird species, many free to come and go as they please. It plays an important role in wildlife breeding programmes, working alongside DOC and the SPCA to provide recovery care for injured native birds.

Just as well we are all OAPs as the entry price for seniors was quite reduced.  Our lot couldn’t possible start their day before they all had a cup of coffee (self service).  The only trouble was that some of them had trouble opening the little packets to put in the mugs and held up the queue!

Who is having trouble making their cuppa?

Walking through the aviaries we came face to face with a Kaka enjoying his breakfast.  The kaka is a large forest parrot and feeds on a wide range of fruit, insects and nectar.  His neighbour, the Kakariki,  a small parrot with  bright green plumage and the red pattern on its head was also enjoying the morning sun shine.

 

Kaka and Kakariki

Then we played “spot the tuatara” as we peered into an enclosure, and found one sitting still, as they do, basking in the sunshine.  There were several young ones in another enclosure, but they we too small for us to spot as they hid amongst the greenery.  Tuatara are the only surviving members of the order Sphenodontia, which was well represented by many species during the age of the dinosaurs, some 200 million years ago. All species except the tuatara declined and eventually became extinct about 60 million years ago.

 

Tuatara, a modern day dinosaur

Yvonne was surrounded with ducks and a couple of pukekos when she started to share the duck food around. 

Yvonne feeding the ducks

Three of us walked up the hill to the Lookout.  From here we had great views over the reserve, and waving back at us were our friends down on the flat ground.  The reserve is set in the remains of lowland swamp forest and is full of native birds flying free.

View from the Lookout

We couldn’t leave without a group photo, and arranged ourselves around the swan sculpture.  Many thanks to Trish for doing the honours – we couldn't find a passing stranger to take our photo for us.

 

From here we drove to Harrisons Garden Centre to have lunch at their café.  I had a moment of panic when I found out they didn’t have our lunch booking for a table for eight, despite having made a booking earlier.  Luckily, the staff soon pushed some tables together for our group, and we settled down for a leisurely lunch. 

Lunch at Harrisons Garden Centre

We had a lovely day out with our SLG friends, the weather was excellent, the food and company were great, and it was fun to catch up again with everyone.