K-K-K KEA!!!!!

Aug 12

This morning. since we had to face Arthur's Pass, we didn't want to start too early. We wanted to let some of the ice melt off the roads before we ventured out on them. After breakfast, we washed up and said our final goodbye to the friendly Weka and started out. It was only 30k to the village from our campsite but 30k over twisty windy roads feels a lot longer. The drive started out fine, nice views and only moderately scary. We did encounter one bad patch of ice through a avalanche tunnel where it felt like the van wasn't going to make it up the slope. Needless to say, I was sitting in the back and Sam was rode shotgun.

When we got to the village we went to the visitors centre first. Very nice lady inside who gave us the best spots to see the Kea. We headed out to the General store first. No Kea, I think we should have eaten outside as they are plainly attracted to food. Not seeing any birds we headed out to the second possibility and found them high up on a light stand. When they flew off down the street, we followed them back to the store. There were more people sitting outside and the Kea were working the crowd. I will point out that there are all these signs saying not to feed the Kea and a "fed Kea is a dead Kea". I was bad 'cause I didn't listen. I was concerned for their health however and did give them a few pieces of apple. I noticed this was one of the fruits they gave a captive Kea so I thought it was ok. When we first came upon them one was eating a marshmallow!

 One of the men having lunch outside said one Kea actually made off with a whole meat pie once! They seem totally unafraid and are quite amazing.

 I love the way they walk with a slight waddle and little hops mixed in. It's hard to believe people once killed these magnificent parrots for being pests. That being said, I guess they can be annoying if they keep pulling the rubber parts off your car. If I lived there, I think I would be making problem solving parrot toys for them. I guess I can now leave New Zealand happy; I have seen the Kea. One other neat thing about the Kea is their call: it really does sat Keeahh. I guess that's why the Maori called them that.

I would really have liked to spent more time poking around Aurthur's Pass. There are some good walks to do and it's a fun place to be especially when you see the flash of green and orange as a Kea flies by. There was a lot of snow there, but it was fairly warm and melting while we were there.

We made it safely through the pass and started heading toward Pegasus to visit an old friend,Kendra, from work. On the way we passed Castle Hill and decided to stop. The rocks here were used in the first Narnia film (battle scenes) . It was good. Still a lot of snow here. We walked up the hills to the rocks and got some good views. It's popular with climbers who like bouldering on the large rocks.

We spent a bit longer then we intended there, but Kendra was ok with that. She made extra spaghetti  for supper and invited us to dinner. It was great to see an old friend and nice to talk to a fellow Canadian! Kendra and her husband moved here on a 2 year visa with their 4 kids. I think that is such an exciting and brave thing to do. The kids seem to be having a good time. Kysen (the second oldest) already talks with a Kiwi accent! Kendra showed us the lovely beach and the lake nearby that's biking distance away from them. I think their summer will be very fun!