rebecca the weka

You might wonder where I got ‘rebecca the wrecker’ from. It is actually a deviation from the ‘rebecca the weka’ nickname given to me by my mother. The New Zealand Weka is a large, brown flightless chook-like bird that whilst shy when it choses, can have a feisty and curious personality if there is food to be scrounged. They also have a reputation for stealing shiny things.

I was first fascinated by the wekas on Kapiti Island as a child. The island is a nature refuge, at the time overrun with pesky wekas that kept trying to steal our food. Those naughty birds! We had to take refuge in the big old whaling pots on the shoreline. The Wekas would not take no for an answer. You can understand why my mother might have named me after them. Persistent, annoying, and never really getting off the ground.