The Gift of Song - A short story written by Berni Albrighton
The Gift of Song. The high pitched screech of the Pukeko told me if I didn’t get up soon I would miss the morning chorus. I looked out to see a pair of them, one standing on the others back. “Why do you do that?” I asked, half to myself and half to the long legged New Zealand Hen that I found so entertaining. “Anyway, you guys are going to have to wait until later, I need to get a move on.” I pulled on some clothes, grabbed my back pack and made my way over to The Wattle Track. It was 6.15am and soon the island would be alive with the sounds of birds singing in another day and I was on a mission to find the Kokako. A pair lived on The Wattle Track and I knew approximately which part, so I headed straight there, resisting the urge to stop and take in the beauty of the Hauraki Gulf as it wr...