Mt Bruce: Tired, overpriced

Went to Mt Bruce yesterday. Have been before a few times, last time a year or so ago. Entertaining grandkids as we are the babysitters of choice for these skool hols.

Was surprised in visible deterioration of aviary exhibits in bush. One pen had collapsed perimeter fence requiring possibly a few hours maintenance, in others birds were very difficult to see. Saw a cheeky and very vocal kokako up close though.

The brown kiwi was no where to be seen in the kiwi house. A black hole in Enclosure 1, with Joe Public left stumbling in the dark looking for a brown kiwi whilst adjusting to the sudden lack of light and wondering if the squeaky entry door had caused the bugger to take flight. How about a sign saying "Nothing to see here, move along"? The tourist magnet white kiwi was relatively easy to see in the dimly but properly lit Enclosure 2.

The eel feeding was informative, well the bits we could hear over the noisy cockie gobbing off that he had bigger ones in his dairy shed drain. An amp and speakers are required for the softly spoken DOC lady so all might hear the patter.

I suspect DOC is using Mt Bruce as a cash cow to fund their other over staffed rorts projects on the go around the country. After all, the tourist buses seem to have an arrangement to stop.

IMHO, not good value at $50 for 2 adults and 2x rugrats - tired exhibits, the lack of maintenance is showing. Front of house shop prices are, as with anything touristy, hideous. As a local, I wouldn't recommend another visit to overpriced Mt Bruce.

Far better is the Middleton Model Railway / Cwmglyn cheese maker two minutes toward Alf Grumble's home at the Eketahuna Club. At $10 per family, tons of value with grandkids that were not happy to leave after 2 hours. Plenty of buttons to push for the many kid sized sets and fantastic main layouts for the big kids at heart. The hosts are convivial and the cheese tastes great.