ZEALANDIA - TE MARA A TANE

A pioneering conservation project, Zealandia has a 500-year development plan to restore (as far as possible) the original flora and fauna of Aotearoa. If Wellington is so populated with endemic birds, it's thanks to this park.

with 225 hectares lined with fences keeping it impervious to pests, a walk in Zealandia is like a stroll through prehistory. You can even see the tuatara, a prehistoric reptile, the last representative of its order.

The park offers a range of guided tours to help visitors better observe and understand the wildlife. It is possible to visit Zealandia at dawn ("Dawn walks"), at dusk ("Twilight tour") or even at night ("Night tours" - a ticket for a guided night tour also gives access to the park the following day).

The night tour allows you to hear the famous kiwis, and even observe one or more specimens for the lucky ones!

Visits at dawn and dusk offer that magical experience of feeling the forest waking up or falling asleep: in the evening, you can feel the day birds gently falling asleep, hear the calls of kākā returning to their nests, then the cries of the first kiwis venturing out. In the morning, the calls of ruru and kiwi become rarer, even as we hear the other birds waking up and are overwhelmed by the beauty of the melodies of the dawn chorus. A magical experience.