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08-04: How the Kiwi Lost His Wings
As promised, here is the story about the bird that has no wings, but nevertheless is New Zealand's most beloved bird.
One day, so the story goes, Tane muhata, the god of the forest, was surveying his domain and became concerned that his children, the trees, were ill from being eaten by bugs. He called the birds together to ask if any might be prepared to eat the bugs, which would entail living on the dark, damp forest floor.
Not surprisingly, he was met with reluctance. Most preffered flying around in the sunny sky above. The tui's excuse was that he was afraid of the dark, the pukeko didn't want to get his feet wet, and the pipiwharauroa was preoccupied with building a nest. But the Kiwi put himself forward.
Tane Muhata reminded him that he would never see daylight again, he would lose all his beautiful feathers, and he would grow thick, strong legs, which he would need to rip open the fallen trees. The Kiwi agreed to the job, and as a reward for his sacrifice became the best-known and most-beloved bird of them all.
The other birds did not fare so well. The tui was forced to wear two white feathers on his throat as the mark of a coward, the pukeko would live forever in a swamp, and the pipiwharauroa would never have another nest of her own, but would have to lay their eggs in those of other birds.
Kristian sent me a youtube video of a kiwi-bird-animation. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUUx5FdySs
My plans of visiting the South Island need some reconsidering. I won't leave this week because of some "appointments". But I'll definitely go next week. I originally planned to go there by plane (40€ one way) and rent a car for around two weeks (15€ per day). I then wanted to buy my own car for roughly 600€ after my return to get around the North Island for the rest of my stay. Probably one or two flatmates give a share to that car too, so it will be even cheaper. The car can be sold at the end of my stay. If I take this option, then I have to get a stove, a tent and other camping stuff, too. The other option would be to buy a car now and drive it to the South Island. It is easy to get a cheap car on the Backpackers Car Market at this time of the year, and they usually come with all kinds of outdoor equipment, so I wouldn't have to buy that extra. The disadvantage of this option would be that I need to take the ferry, which would cost me 65€ (one way) and the petrol to get there (app. 60€ one way). Additionally, there could be the risk that the "new" car breaks down on the way down there. Opinions?
Next blog post: Huia, April 13th 08.
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