Saturday was the start of another big mission for our six chicks.  It seems that the public of New Zealand are big fans, and so as part of their journey back to Whenua Hou, they had another social stopover..... 

After their usual morning feed on Saturday, the chicks were transferred into their carry crates for the trip south.  Air New Zealand treated them like the stars they are and after carefully placing them in the hold we were off.  We had a short stopover in Christchurch where a few fellow passengers looked at us funny because of the grumblings coming from our luggage!  The birds arrived in Invercargill where they were greeted by an iwi representative and released into their pen after a karakia and a short mihi.  They were a bit sleepy but all came through the trip well.  Little did they know that this was just the start of their big weekend.

On Sunday morning we were all up bright and early to get ready for the Invercargill public viewing.  The chicks were on display from 9am to 4pm and a whopping 3049 (approximate!!) Southlanders took the chance to meet the chicks.  "Rooster" and "Jovi" entertained as usual and "Po" showed off her new-found climbing skills.  The reaction of the public was wicked to see, most people couldn’t believe the size of them, and kids were enthralled by the way they played and climbed and chased each other.

After another night in Invercargill the day we had all been waiting for dawned - the chicks were flying home (via helicopter)!  We released all six chicks at around 10.30am and they quickly settled into their outdoor pen where they will live for the next few months to be quarantined and crop-fed.  With a southerly forecast we were a little anxious as to how they’d settle in but we kept a close eye on them and apart from them being tired from the weekend and obviously a little bit colder than usual they all seem fine.  Today it is snowing so the chicks still have some tough times ahead in the next few days but they are having a great time exploring their new home.  Wahooo yet another milestone has been passed!