Short Post - Involving Kiwis!

Since we got to do our glacier walk yesterday, we decided that today, we'd check out of our hotel early (we had booked an extra night in case the weather was terrible) and we'd move a little bit closer to Picton. So today we headed North, but first, we stopped back in our favorite township - Franz Josef township to get some food and stop at their Wildlife Centre. They have Kiwis there. We had to. No photos unfortunately, as Kiwis are nocturnal birds and are very sensitive to light. They don't even want LCD screens lighting up in there. And Sarah and I are nothing if not rule followers, so we just went in and watched them. They are so frickin adorable. I didn't know this (or I don't think I did?) They have nostrils at the *very* tip of their beak, and one of them would go to drink water, and then he'd sneeze out the water basically. And yes, they can look as round as they're depicted. Little feathery squishes. But also when they stretch their necks to forage or poke at something, and they just kinda elongate? Superb. Very cute. And they're fast too? They're very cool birds. The ones we saw are part of the Rowi species of Kiwi which there are only 600 of apparently. Anyways, looked, learned about Kiwis (and a myth about them) a few other birds, and a New Zealand reptile called the Tuatara. Then we drove to Hokitika, walked around that town for a bit, then went to Hokitika Gorge - several suspension bridges cross a glacial river and pass through cliff faces. It was a bit crowded. The suspension bridge said only 20 people on at a time, and on the way back I felt like there were way too many. Then we drove to a place called Greymouth - had dinner at a place called Speight's Ale House BUT On the way there, Sarah swears she saw a Kiwi on the side of the road. I didn't see it, I did see something in the rearview mirror, but I cannot confirm. Had dinner, we had this amazing Sweet Chili Pesto bread? DAYUM weird combo but a delicious one. Then we decided to make it to Reefton so we last minute booked an airbnb (I didn't know they accepted bookings so late!) so back on the road. And we DID see a Kiwi on the road near Reefton! CAN confirm, definitely a kiwi (probably not a Rowi though) but it was past sunet when Kiwis start becoming active and moving about. Made it to our Airbnb where we actually have a whole house to ourselves! For the same price as all the other ones we've been finding. But we rolled in super late and reefton looks like a ghost town. honestly the roads the second sunset hits? Deserted. Except for so many bugs. And birds! But we made it, we re-packed our things because we need to switch islands the day after tomorrow, and since we had all this space we figured we could spread out and really get that done. I CAN fit everything in all the bags I brought. Barely. No more gifts for anyone. Unless you want a magnet, sticker or pin. Then you can have something. But since I packed everything up, I have no chargers out, and my camera is locked away, so no photos from my memory card. I really only have pictures from the Gorge - they're pretty don't get me wrong, but not much happened today. Unfortunately it was mostly driving. 30 min to Franz Josef. 2 hours to Hokitika. 30 min to gorge. 30 min back to Hokitika. (the road doesn't connect) 30 min to Greymouth. Another hour to Reefton. Plus we stopped to eat. I've loved seeing the South Island, but once we cross over, we're more likely to stay in one place for a few days which will be nice. Anyways, that's my cue. Goodnight! Dream of kiwis!