"I think people, when they watch it, will be genuinely impressed by how much they discover."
"I think people, when they watch it, will be genuinely impressed by how much they discover."
Actor Tim Balme narrates Evolution Islands. He reveals his discoveries from the new documentary series.
We have something in common with our national symbol.
The myth is going to be dispelled that kiwis can actually fly. When I was narrating that I went "what?" As a Kiwi person we have to fly to get out of here and our national bird can fly - it just chooses not to. It's chosen not to for so long that now it actually can't fly.
-I just thought it was one of those strange little creatures - and it is one of the oddest birds in the world, we have to own that - but it used to fly. It flew here many millions of years ago and the point is it landed and went "you know what? I don't need to fly there's heaps of good food on the ground to eat, what's the point in flying, it takes effort."
That's the kind of laid-back Kiwi thing that we have inherited as the human species identifying with this bird.
This isn't specific to this doco but it is made quite clear that basically birds are dinosaurs. I've got this place up north that we go to a lot and it's just been invaded by a wild turkey that comes over and marauds around the house. It's been estranged from a group of turkeys that roam around the valley. When you look at a turkey up close, they are really freaky.
Birds are basically dinosaurs; when dinosaurs were discovered, artists started producing impressions of what these big bones must have looked like and they put scales on them and all that sort of stuff - and actually they had feathers and fur. When you go to the cafe and you have poached eggs and bacon, you're basically having dinosaur eggs and bacon. Which I find kind of interesting.
A scene from the series New Zealand: Evolution Islands.
Something was big enough to take on the moa.
The other thing I love about the series is they talk about the biggest eagle that ever flew in the world - the Haast eagle - and that it was so big that it picked up small children. Maori legend has it that they tried to whisk them away, it was that big.
It was so big that it attacked moa. Moa skeletons have scars that scientists can attribute to these Haast eagles attacking them. The series takes the time to explain the scientific evidence and the process of how this came to be unearthed, but in a way that's very accessible. The scientists are literally on the ground, sharing their knowledge in the location.
There's no one quite like us.
In the show we'll pick up an example here and then go "over in Australia there was a relative" or what we thought was a relative. By cutting across there you instantly go "my God, our countries are so different". That landscape is such a contrast and with the animals, sometimes they're connected and sometimes they're not, but it shows the contrast. We know, as New Zealanders, how different we are culturally, in terms of the way we talk and all sorts of things. But I think what's kind of nice about the show is [it explores] these discoveries in terms of our unique wildlife. There's only that little piece of ocean between us but we are completely different.
A Kakapo on Codfish Island.
It digs up the history of our own backyard.
As New Zealanders we grow up having a love of the great outdoors and knowing that we have a wonderful country. I think I've been guilty of just taking it all for granted, so I didn't really know a great deal about most of the stuff that we're talking about.
There's something particularly satisfying about watching a programme on TV about the world around you. Growing up I was used to watching programmes about Africa, grizzly bears and, to a certain extent programmes by David Attenborough - all his wonderful shows about most of the world except here. But there's something really cool about going, "Oh my God, there's so much to know about this place that we call home."
I think people, when they watch it, will be genuinely impressed by how much they discover.
Lowdown New Zealand: Evolution Islands on Discovery Channel, Sundays from May 6, 8.30pm (Sky Channel 70)
