Our final morning: Winds cause a missed call
November 18, 2011: Our final day It’s happy birthday to Nicole Donahoe, and Chef Mabee has carved an elaborate apple swan for the breakfast bar in her honor. One gift given, another taken away. We’re hoping to make landfall on Tiritiri Matangi, a remarkable island of conservation. The once-eroded farms are now sanctuary for some of New Zealand’s rarest birds: the flightless takahe and kokako, which was nearly extinct. But the southwesterlies intrude again, making the tender …