Little Miss Explorer – Wellington’s South Coast

Every Sunday, throughout the summer, there’s a special place in Island Bay that we often visit. Its flags flutter, in the almost certain breeze, and giant fish kites welcome passers by into the old bait house that is now a treasured centre of marine education for locals and visitors alike. Located on the shores of the bay, within the Taputeranga Marine Reserve, it is a place to get close to the creatures that live in the sea on our doorstep.

Little Miss 2, nearly 3, Alice, absolutely loves to visit and reaches in to touch the animals in the touch pool with certain confidence and great excitement.

She chatters away to the animals as she touches them and reaches out for ones not quite within arms reach, asking me to ‘Pass that shell with a hermit crab hiding in it and to look at the starfish and pass the sea cucumber’!

After we’ve visited the centre she likes to explore the rock pools that edge onto the ‘Snorkel Trail’ in the marine reserve. It was even more special this Sunday as she shared her exploring of Wellington’s beautiful south coast with her Grandma and Granddad.