Cebu

We took a city tour of Cebu. The Philippines has over 7,500 islands and an interesting history of Spain mainly having control of it for hundreds of years (it is named after King Philip of Spain). We saw San Pedro fort where the Spaniards kept control and Magellan's cross - the conquistador who brought colonialism to the islands and was later killed by Lapu Lapu, an indigenous Philipino chief. We didn't have too much of an idea of where we were going as our driver didn't speak English, but it was still a good tour.

mou waho island

Sunday we decided to take an ecotour to an island, Mou Waho, in the middle of Lake Wanaka; the area was formed by glaciers millions of years ago and is home only to rare species of birds and has a hidden lake on the top - a lake on an island on an island.

 Hiking to the top with our guide Chris

 Finding the rare Buff Weka bird - an almost extinct bird that is much like the velociraptor, and ecologically 'naive,' hence its near extinction.

View from top of the world

 The rare Weta insect, which can be frozen for up to six months in winter and then be alive. Does their DNA hold the key to how to live on other planets? Cryotherapy?

 Planting a cabbage tree - leaving the island better than we found it.

 Time for a fire and some New Zealand pinot noir...