On Tuesday the kids and I headed over to a wonderful wildlife reserve with the Armstrong family. Ben works with Dr. Armstrong at Hutt Hospital and they have all been wonderful in making us feel at home.
Staglands Reserve lies in the hills outside of Wellington. We trekked over a mountain through a windy and narrow passage, which seemed to never end. When we arrived, we discovered a spectacular hidden reserve.
At this open "zoo" we saw some amazing things and they were all up close and with no fencing. The kids loved feeding the animals with provided food bags and being able to get so close to the animals. They also really enjoyed being with the Armstrong's. They are a fun bunch!
There were forest wetlands full of ducks and geese, stables with bunnies, baby chicks, donkeys and lamb, a rainbow trout & eel pond full of huge trout, beautiful bird aviaries, an old bush settlement - a recreation of how early pioneers settled in NZ, a fun bush railway cart to have a ride in, a deer park and lookout and a secret garden with a neat zip line.
This pig definitely wins the "ugliest pig ever" award!
Tobin and Isla Armstrong
Baby chickies
Swinging bridge - only 3 people at a time...the older boys went first and had great fun jumping and swinging on it...glad they left before we did.
The old bush settlement...really neat to see the old settlement and how they lived...even had a jail room and old barracks. These peacocks welcomed us to the settlement and the one put a full display.
Beautiful!
Albino peacock
A ride on the bush railway
Can you see the Fallow Deer?
The swinging bridge is right above in this picture. On the way back to the entrance, you must cross this 2-planked "bridge" across the river.
What a fun day!
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