Blogger: Steve Field, Membership Development Manager
It’s almost a year since I took the plunge and decided to dip into my meagre savings and book the holiday of a lifetime to New Zealand and Borneo. As I prepare to jet off later in the week, I’m starting to get quite excited about the adventures that lie ahead, including a week of walking and sea kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park on the South Island of New Zealand.
I am genuinely looking forward to seeing the wildlife of Abel Tasman, including the famous fantail or piwakawaka to give it its Maori name! After New Zealand, it’s then on to Borneo where I’m going to attempt to climb Mount Kinabalu, trek through the jungle, do some white water rafting and if I’m lucky come face-to-face with an orangutan.
If all that sounds rather exotic (and it does) one of most enjoyable wildlife experiences happened on Sunday and just eight miles from my home in Norwich. I was working at Strumpshaw Fen nature reserve when Penny, one of the volunteers, called me to Reception Hide where an otter was swimming just a few metres away. It’s the first time I’d seen an otter at Strumpshaw and to see him so close up was amazing – and that was followed shortly after by a bittern flying over the reed beds!
For all my excitement about travelling around the world, to have an experience like that at Strumpshaw was the perfect reminder of what we have right here at home – and a great send off!