I got up later than I’d planned on 14th March, and then regretted it as soon as I saw that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and that I should have been up earlier taking photos! I walked up to the viewpoint that I’d found the previous day and was soon clicking away with the camera. I then went down to the water’s edge. From both locations there was really only one photo to take…
I then wandered back up to the viewpoint and then further up the track that I’d discovered the previous day, to try to get a better view, but carried on longer than I should have, and wasted a lot of time in the forest, not being able to see anything. On the way back, at the viewpoint, I ran into Brian again, and we walked across the bridge to the other side of the river to get a better view of some surrounding peaks.
There were a lot of sandflies and we were running out of time to get the bus so we headed back. Near the bridge, on the way back to the hostel to pick up backpacks, we came across a large and strange looking parrot, hopping around, apparently not scared of us.
Later on, I found out it was a kea, a species of parrot native to NZ. They are said to be one of the smartest birds in the world and they are quite destructive. They are known for damaging cars (especially the soft parts like windscreen wiper blades, tyres, and window seals) and the also tend to scratch the paint.
And Monty Python fans might like to take note that this parrot was very much alive – it wasn’t nailed to anything, and it wasn’t pining for the fjords for the very excellent reason that it was already in a fjord…
The bus arrived soon after midday. It was, of course, the same one that had brought us the previous day. The rest of the afternoon was spent heading back along the twisty scenic roads to Queenstown. When we arrived the double decker London bus was doing the “city tour”. After a couple of photos I wandered back to the FAB Hostel and checked in for the night.
