Hostel Nomads Fat Camel, Auckland (still here)

Today was ANZAC day. At 6AM participated in the Dawn Service at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Lots of people and the live video screen was placed too low, so didn't see much. Speeches were delivered by the Mayor of Auckland, the Minister of Defence and a couple of war veterans. The service was in English with little bits also in Maori. A plane was supposed to fly over the park but this was cancelled due to thick fog.

Then went on to the Auckland Zoo to check out the kiwi bird. Kiwi can be viewed in two places, in the BNZ Kiwi & Tuatara House, and during the NZ Fauna Keeper Encounter. As the kiwi is a nocturnal bird, to show an active kiwi, the BNZ House is dark, so one doesn't see much. The NZ Fauna Keeper Encounter takes place in day-light. A zoo keeper demonstrates various animals endemic to New Zealand: tuatara, some bird, and a green geko. The kiwi sleeps under a tree trunk throughout the show and appears as the highlight of the show when the keeper pulls away the trunk. It takes a while till the bird wakes up. It then pecks on some sweet-corn and finally runs away (kiwis can run faster than humans over short distances).