Saturday, April 08, 2006



One day when we were out doing our kiwi work we caught sight of this bird.

Do you know what kind of bird it is? I'll give you a clue, towit towoo.

This is how we got to work in the kiwi sanctuary today.
To drive the boat you have to have a boatmasters certificate.
Anyone who rides in a boat has to wear a life jacket.

Why do you think Chrissy and I are wearing safety vests in the bush in the photo below?

Chrissy made me find this kiwi all by myself!
I'll tell you more about that later.......
The kiwi had to come out of it's burrow even though it was asleep.
The kiwi team only do this once a year to change it's transmitter.

I bet you don't know what an animal that is awake all night is called?

Monday, April 03, 2006

Have you ever used a compass and map? Why do you think these are very important tools that the kiwi workers use in the Okarito sanctuary?

In this photo Chris and Paul are holding a kiwi making a transmitter change. After we had finished we needed the compass to find our way out of the thick bush.

Sunday, April 02, 2006


This rangers name is 'Jo'. He's checking traps with a sinker on a string, but he's not fishing!
I'm feeling a bit tired here!
We walked 11 hours to the hut to stay the night, checking traps all the way.

Jo is making sure the traps are working. If they don't go off when the weight goes on the trigger then they are not set correctly and won't catch the stoat when it goes to eat the bait.

Do you know why stoats are a problem in the Okarito sanctuary?
On this trip Paul was checking the kiwis burrow. Kiwi workers write down information in their notebooks. What do you think they write down?


Hi there. I'm Julie and you can usually catch me at Franz Josef Glacier School. But right now I'm hanging out at DOC with the kiwi team. It's great !

Under these leaves is a secret hiding place.
bet you can't guess who lives here..