Bell bird, korimako

We packed our stuff into the hire car this morning, and set off for Taupo.

Our plan was to stop for a while at Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre, then drive gently north, possibly stopping later if we saw something interesting.  

In the end, we stayed longer than intended at Mount Bruce.  Not that it particularly impressed us - we were frankly a little disappointed with the visitor experience (our first such disappointment this holiday.  Up to this, we had been really impressed by the care that everyone seems to put into ensuring that the environment and visitors get a good deal).  Today, my feeling was that the Centre undoubtedly does a great job for the wildlife, but despite a hefty entrance fee, the visitor was short changed.  Half of the aviaries were empty, and under redevelopment; the free flight aviary was too small for the comfort of the birds; they only have 2 kiwi in the Kiwi House for visitors to see, one of which was off sick today, the other plainly sulking.  We were trying to salvage something, having a cup of tea before returning for a second time to hopefully see their Kiwi - but he resolutely refused to show himself.  The cafe felt understaffed for the number of visitors, and the toilets were not up to the high standards we have come to expect.

Anyway, we then set off to drive up to Taupo, and met delays due to road closures.  We only managed one more brief sight seeing stop, Stormy Point viewpoint, from where we could catch a glimpse of Mt Ruapehu amongst the clouds. 

We finally arrived at about 8pm.  Lovely apartment, everything we could possibly need; there was even ready made ice for our gin!