On the 28th we decided to hike to Cape Kidnappers to see the Gannet colony. Cape Kidnappers is 10 km out on a point by the ocean, and you can either pay $33 NZD to ride out there on the back of a tractor or you can walk it. Well, we’re on a budget, so we walked the 10 km out and 10 km back. At the end of the day, my feet were bloody killing me.

Because the hike was along the beach it was dependent on tides, so we had to wait until 3 horus after high tide at 1:30 pm to head out. Hence we spent the morning RPing and lounging around the hostel. It took us a little more than 2 hours to walk the 10 kms (it was flat, as the walk was along a beach). There were gannets and terns and gulls nesting down by the beach toward the end, and we could see all of the above and shearwaters diving for fish far off the coast through our binoculars. The mainland gannet colony was at the top of a tall grassy hill that had sheep grazing on it. The DOC lets you walk right up the edge of the nesting colong - I was surprised because it actually seemed to bother the birds, they became aggressive when people got too close (not that people seemed to notice this). It was neat to see them so close though. They were still building nests and/or incubating their eggs, we didn’t get to see any chicks.

We walked the 10 km back from 5-7pm. We were very tired by the end and my feet and legs were sore. We came back to the hostel and I cooked a yummy dinner. We stayed in Stables Lodge again - we were surrounded by Germans!! Actually we have been the entire trip, there are a ton of Germans on holiday in NZ right now.

It rained during the night in Napier, but was sunny when we got up. Unfortunately it was raining again when we got over the west side of the mountains. The drive was ok - I zoned out for a lot of it. We had a Rook (European corvid/crow thing, introduced species) fly over the car somewhere near Dannevirke.

We stopped at Horowhenua Wetland Reserve and went on the short walk, but didn’t see anything new. A more interesting stop was Nga Manu Nature Reserve. There was a $10 admission fee, and we got to see HUGE NZ eels as they were fed by the keeper person (they were fed leftover mouse butts from the lizard cages, lizards seem to like the heads). They were NZ long- and shortfinn eels, and they breed somewhere in the South Pacific and migrate to NZ to live. When they’re ready to breed they migrate back, but only a few of them choose to go. They can get really big - some were about 2 meters long! They guy let us pet one, it was really smooth before it started exuding slime (they do that so they can cross land). The reserve had a lot of birds as well - we got to see Blue Duck (not wild), which was a lot darker than the bird book shows it (we’ve decided the bird book is not that astounding). They also had Kea and Kaka - a Kaka landed on my HEAD!! It hopped onto Vanessa’s, too. There was a nocturnal hosue with kiwi, morepork (an owl), tuataras, and geckos. We got to see a Mute Swan (introduced) in the pond and a Dunnock (introduced) in the Kea house.

We headed to Paraparaumu where we spent the night at Barnacles Seaside Inn. It was pretty cozy and the reception lady was really nice. We had Fish and Chips for dinner and it rained hard all night.

Unfortunately our ferry to Kapiti this morning was cancelled due to rough seas. Since we were up early we took our packs to Moana Lodge in Plimmerton and got a tour of the hostel. We then drove to the i-site in Wellington and got directions to the Karori Reserve a “mainland island” above Wellington that’s surrounded by a predator-proof fence.

The reserve was $10 admission. We wandered about from ~10am to 1pm looking for Weka, but with no luck. It rained on us a bit and we saw a few good brids - nothing new though.

Afterwards we returned the rental car - no scratches or anything!! Just lots of dirt and bird poop. It’s a big stress relief that the thing is gone, I don’t have to worry about not having insurance on it or about my navigator getting cranky with me over my conservative driving. We’ll have to lug all our stuff around now of course… but we’ll be staying in one place longer from now on.

Omega Rentals dropped us off in central Wellington (nice of them!) where we hunted down some asian food for lunch. We shopped around but didn’t buy anything, and took the train back to Plimmerton ($6).

The guy at the desk at the hostel (John) was really nice - he’s trying to get us on a boat to Kapiti tomorrow, weather depending. And if we can’t go he’ll send us up to a nearby estuary so we can watch birdies!! This place is awesome.

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My first NZ pickup line, from really drunk guy walking outside of our hostel in Tauranga: “Hey, if you want a real Kiwi experience, follow us!”

Yeah….

On the 24th we left Coromanel and headed southeast toward Tauranga. About 45 minutes later we realized we were heading northeast up the peninsula. Whoops. Bad, bad navigator. Poor exhausted driver had to drive an extra hour and a half after getting no sleep….

We stopped in Whitianga to look at the bone carving studio. The guy did amazing work but didn’thave many pieces there, so I got the name of store he sells to in Auckland.

After Whitianga we drive to Hot Water Beach, where you’re supposed to be able to dig to find hot spots under the sand. It was the wrong tide but we tried digging anyway, no luck though. The beach was gorgeous nonetheless.

We stayed overnight at Loft 109 in Tauranga. The hostel was nice but the city was huge and there wasn’t any parking — we had to park in a paid lot way down the street. We ate overpriced pizza for dinner and went to an internet cafe where I blogged from the last time.

Of note, while driving I’ve nearly hit a sheep and had to dodge loose cows, goats, horses, sheep, pukeko…. there are obstacles here!!

We left Tauranga early at 8:30am and headed to Rotorua via a small country road rather than the main highway, which was actually faster. We drove around the north end of lake Rotorua and finally saw some ducks! (Up to then, only 1 species). We tried to drive around the other lakes (Rotoriti, etc.) but wound up on a country road that eventually headed north to the Bay of Plenty and had little scenery other than sheep. So we turned around and found the i-site in ROtorua (i-sites ROCK) and got directions to the lake to the southeast of the city. We checked in with our hostel, Funky Green Voyager, and headed outto the other lakes. There was mostly more of the same species of birds out there and not much hiking, so we went back to Rotorua. Went to the grocery store, post office, etc. We also bought notebooks so we can RP by hand when we’re bored (we’re sad and pathetic life forms, aren’t we?).

On the 26th we left Rotorua early after sleeping really well. We drove southeast towards Te Urewera NP. The road through the park was unsealed for about 90 km, that was exciting. THe rental car is very dirty now. THere were lots of cows and horses loose on the road, and once we actually had to stop to move rocks out of the road from a landslide so our tiny no-clearance car could pass.

Lake Waikaremoana was really pretty! It’s in Te Urewera, and we spent the night there. It had calm blue-green water and was quite large. We stopped at the visitor center on the way in and asked about a hike we could do for the afternoon. Then we checked in at the office, we stayed in a little 4-person bunkhouse/hut thing that had 4 beds, a table, and cabinets for food (that was IT). It was ok, it looked out onto the lake and we could see boats and duckies. The bathroom was close and actually pretty nice, and there was a kitchen but we didn’t use it.

We drove back to the trailhead and hiked to Lake Waikareiti. We walked for about an hor through native forest - and on the way we saw a cuckoo and a rifleman. The cockoo was pretty, they’re shining green on the top, and the rifleman was a really really cute tiny bird that I just wanted to stick in my pocket and bring home. We saw kaka (native NZ parrot) on the bay back - at least 3 of them. They’re very vocal and are really pretty, with bright red underparts and grey on the top.

Last night at the lake was cold, I did ok with my down sleeping bag but Vanessa didn’t sleep well. We could see stars for the first time though - I found the Southern Cross for Vanessa and we could see the Milky Way. There was a huge meteor, too. In the morning we headed for Napier. The road was long and windy with lots of rocks and cliffs.

Napier is a cute little port city. We’re staying at Stables Lodge which is awesome and has horsies all over the walls. We went to the DOC and the i-site and decided to walkt to Cape Kidnappers tomorrow to see the gannets instead of taking a tour (it’s 10 km each way, but we figure we need the exercise before the great walks). We had Mongolian BBQ for a late lunch and have been RPing and using the free internet this evening.

Are the only people who read this mom, Freesh, Char, and Melissa? Leave more comments so I know I’m loved and well-read!

We headed south from Paihia on the 19th of October, traveling down Hwy 1. We stopped at Waipu Cove again looking for Fairy Terns but didn’t have any luck. We did see an albino Varied Oystercatcher, that was pretty cool. Just north of Orewa we passed Wenderholm, which was on my list of birding spots but we hadn’t gone because we couldn’t find it on the map. As we had plenty of extra time we decided to stop. When we drove into the parking lot about 4 or 5 Mallard ducklings ran under our car. I was laughing really hard when I got out to shoo them away.

There were birds called tuis absolutely everywhere - they have really cool songs! There are also little birds called fantails that come out and dance and display all around you, they’re really cute. We went on a hike up a nearby hill through native forest that took about an hour and a half. The walk was very uphill but there were wooden stairs for a lot of it. I finally got nice looks at NZ Pigeons too, they’re so much prettier than our stupid Rock Pigeons.

We checked in at Pillows Lodge in Orewa. Even though I’d booked a double they gave us the dorm loft at a cheaper price, and we had it to ourselves. Unfortunately the walls were like paper and there were bedbugs that chewed on my feet all night, so it didn’t turn out to be the greatest hostel. We went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner, it was pretty good.

On the 20th we followed directions to Gulf Harbour, which was about 20 minutes away. Our ferry ticket was waiting for us and we were early. While we were waiting we met a nice couple from England who were also in the country for birding. Did you know that birders in European countries are known as “twitchers”? Well, not birders who sit at their windows and watch bird feeders, but ones who drive across country to see rare birds and such. Like me. Twitcher.

We took the Kawau Kat ferry over to Tiritiri Matangi island at 9:50am. On the way over we saw Fluttering Shearwater (shearwaters are really hard to ID, be proud). We dropped our stuff off at the bunkhouse and went hiking on the island. The track we picked didn’t have any other people on it because it was the longest one, which was awesome. We saw lots and lots of pretty birdies, mostly forest ones.

That night we went out on the island with the English couple to look for kiwis. We saw Blue Penguins coming in for the night to their little burrows along the shorelines (they make loud funny moaning noises), a Tuatara (a reptile that looks like a lizard but isn’t, it’s in its own Order and can only be found in NZ), bioluminescent algae in the waves, and 4 Little Spotted Kiwi!!! We also heard an owl and Grey-faced Petrels.

The bunkhouse on the island was pretty nice, it had a great kitchen and though the bunks and toilet were a bit primitive they sufficed. We got in late after Kiwi-seeking but I got up early anyway and went to watch birds in the yard. Later Vanessa and I walked around and looked for more birds, we did pretty well. I spent a bunch of money in the gift shop of course =)

The ferry came for us at about 3:30pm, and once we were back on the mainland we drove down to Miranda (about 2 hours). For dinner we had a very greasy but yummy Fish and Chips at a local shop. The room at the Shorebird Centre was nice, it was ensuite with its own bathroom and kitchen.

Stuff about birds some people may want to skip:
NZ Robins are fairly uncommon, but we saw some on Tiritiri. All of the ones on the island are banded. If you shuffle the leaf litter at your feet the robins will come right up to you and feed at your toes. There are also Saddlebacks which are extremely cranky and sensitive, they yell at everything that comes near them and they sound like they’re laughing at you. Stitchbirds are gorgeous - the picture in the book doesn’t do them justice. They make a high-pitched shrill call. The Tuis are crazy, they fly into bushes at full speed and collide with the branches. They also have a nose-dive display where they fly straight up into the air and then nose-dive into the bush (crash!). They also have an awesome song that’s loud and liquid-sounding. Kokako are rare and hard to find. We saw several pairs on Tiritiri feeding on berries and leaves. They have really long legs and their song is almost whale-like. Fantails are probably my favorite, because they come right up to you and display right next to you with their little tails all fanned out. They’re pretty spastic and have a display that’s like a leaf falling in the wind. There are also parakeets that are pretty shy, they like to feed on large flowering plants. The Takahe are large flightless birds that are highly endangered, they have bills the size of Puffins’. They seem shy as well but there are signs all over the island that say “Beware, Takahe will steal your food”.

The next morning in Miranda there were House Sparrows scratching at the ceiling when we woke up - they have fledglings over the bathroom. High tide was at 8am and that’s when the Wrybills were supposed to be out, so we went out on the trail to look for them. Right by the Centre we caught a brief look at a Banded Rail, which we hadn’t seen before.

We walked all the way out on the trail and ran into a group of birders who’d driven there with spotting scopes. We saw quite a few species of shorebirds. The Wrybills are tiny shorebirds with bills that curve slightly to the right - this is unique to their species.

As we walked to the road my violent sneezing (bad allergies at Miranda) managed not to scare off a second Banded Rail (yay!). The little bird caught a worm in the mud and we watched it take it back into the mangroves where it probably had a nest. Also, on the way back to the Centre an Australasian Bittern flew right overhead. This was amazing, I haven’t even been able to see an American Bittern because the bloody things are impossible to find. Yay!

Since we had our own fridge (Wow!) I hard-boiled some eggs for lunch. We made some logistical decisions about the next couple of days and then headed out to look at birds again. The tide was really low and we couldn’t see much though, and it was really windy. In the evening we went back to the Fish and Chips place because it was insanely cheap. When we got back we were introduced to two real NZ twitchers- they run a birding tour company. We then went back to the sandspit but it got dark quickly so we didn’t see much.

On the 23rd it rained. A LOT. We left Miranda late after sleeping in and headed toward the Coromandel Peninsula. There were tons of Spotted Shags (a shag in NZ is a cormorant, and Spotted ones are really pretty - a grey color with blueish backs and a racing stripe down the side) along the coast. The road sucked, it was realy narrow with lots of one-lane bridges and one area where there was only room for one line of cars and of course I didn’t have the right of way. The peninsula was pretty though… very green.

We stayed at the Lion’s Den in Coromandel. This hostel was awesome! It was really cute with an African theme and a pretty garden. There was lots of space on the deck to relax and hide from the rain. The town itself was ok, there were some nice art stores and places to eat.

I haven’t journaled for today so that’s it for now! We’re staying at Loft 109 in Tauranga and tomorrow we’re going to Rotorua.

A recap of our trip thus far in New Zealand:

We arrived on the 15th. I remember that was a Sunday because everything was closed until 10am. Our flight of course got in at 6am, and we made it to the Brown Kiwi by 8am. We wandered around the city somewhat aimlessly for awhile and bought field guides at Borders when they finally opened.

The facilities at TBK were less-than-impressive. The manager wasn’t always around when he was supposed to be and the shower was essentially a concrete slab surrounded by aluminum siding. The “hot” water was lukewarm, and the kitchen resembled the aftermath of a small bomb. The room was really nice though, and we slept like the dead.

On the 16th we woke up around 4 or 5am (we went to bed at 8:30 pm, we were tired). We checked out and made our way to the rental car place. Our car is a little white Toyota Starlet with the horsepower of a flea and the trunk space of a kangaroo rat… but it runs! We headed out of town to Muriwai Beach where we saw a nesting colony of Australasian Gannets, in addition to lots of White-fronted Terns. It was extremely cold, windy, and rainy and we froze our butts off.

We followed Hwy 1 North - Northland is gorgeous, it’s very green with lots of cows and sheep - and stopped at Waipu Cove. We ran into a lady from the DOC who let us look through her scope and helped us ID some bird species. It started pelting rain again and we got soaked through. We headed to our hostel in Paihia - the Peppertree - which is a really nice place.

On the 17th we got up at 6:30am to head up to Kaitia for a tour of 90-mile beach. THe drive there was absolutely gorgeous, the northern portion of Hwy 1 passed through a lush jungle-like area with these really cool-looking fuzzy palm trees. There were lots of showers and rainbows on the way. Our tour was with Sand Safaris. We stopped at a Kauri (an endemic ancient tree) gift shop and then headed up 90-mile beach. There weren’t many birds along it, but we stopped for some good photos in places. Our guide was Maori and sang us Maori songs on the bus. At the end of the beach we stopped at the sand dunes and went tobogonning.

Cape Reinga itself was pretty, but very windy. There were huge waves where the Tasman Sea met the Pacific Ocean. We stopped at a nearby bay for lunch and then headed down to the Gumdiggers park where we had a guided tour. I wasn’t paying 100% attention though because there were cool birdies (fantails! they’re pretty!). Vanessa also got to see some NZ Spotted Geckos.

After the tour Vanessa drove back to the hostel (only moderately scary).

Today we went on a day sailing tour of the Bay of Islands. I was a little worried about getting motion sick but I did great - the bay was calm and we were on a very smooth Catamaran. The weather was a little sucky - mostly cloudy with occasional rain. And we didn’t get to see any dolphins all day. But there were several good pelagic birds that kept us occupied, and we saw Blue Penguins. We got to hike on an island and lunch was a “barbie” on the boat.

This evening I did some shopping in town. Tomorrow we head south and the day after we go to Tiritiri Island.

Hi everyone, just wanted to leave a brief note that we’re alive and we’ve arrived safely in Auckland! We are very very tired and spent the day wandering around the city. It’s windy and a little rainy here, but WE’RE IN NEW ZEALAND!!!!!! I’ll be in touch in a few days with some more detailed journaling. Toodles!

I thought I’d use my first post to provide a rough itinerary and some maps of where we’re planning to go.

We’re flying out on Air New Zealand from SFO on Friday, October 13th at about 10pm. The flight is 14 hours long and should arrive in Auckland, NZ very early in the morning on October 15th. The first 2 weeks of our trip will be spent on New Zealand’s North Island.

We’ll be spending the 15th of October in Auckland, checking into our hostel and doing some shopping for basic staples (food, bird books, and from what I hear the best long underwear you can buy on the planet). On the 16th we’ll be renting a car and driving up to Northland, and we’ll stay in Paihia at the Bay of Islands for a few days. Our plans up there include a catamaran trip to see dolphins and a bus tour of Cape Reinga. We’ll also be taking a ferry to Tiritiri Island, which is a bird sanctuary.

Next we’ll head back through Auckland and over to the Coromandel Peninsula. We’ve allotted several days for this, and plan to gradually make our way over to Tauranga. Once there we’ll head down through Rotorua and Te Urewera National Park. On the other side we’ll be staying in Napier, where we’ll be going to see a mainland Gannet colony.

Our next main destination is Kapiti Island, so we’ll be cutting across Southland and staying in a town right across from the island. Kapiti Island is also a bird sanctuary, and we’re taking a ferry over there for a day. When we get back we’re heading south to Wellington where we’ll drop off our rental car.

On November 1 we’re taking the Interislander Ferry across the strait to Picton, where we’ll be spending several days. Plans here include a birding tour and sea kayaking before heading over to Abel Tasman National Park. We’ll be moving a lot through the area, but plan to walk the Abel Tasman Coastal Track while we’re there - this is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks. It’ll take us 4 days to complete and it’s about 50 km long.

Next we rent another car and head south to Okarito, which isn’t a big tourist destination unless you’re into birds. We’ll be kayaking on the Okarito lagoon and looking at herons and spoonbills. Then we head through Wanaka and down to Queenstown, where we drop off our rental car. After a day in Queenstown we hop on a bus down to Te Anau.

Te Anau is definitely one of the most exciting destinations for us. We’ll be going on a kayaking tour of Milford Sound, a boat tour of the Te Anau Glowworm Caves, and another kayaking tour of Doubtful Sound. We’ll also be hiking the 4-day Milford Track, which is another of New Zealand’s Great Walks (and the most famous).

From Te Anau we head south to Invercargill, which is the southernmost city on the South Island. From there we take a ferry to Stewart Island, where we’ll be spending several days. Plans on the island include a great deal of hiking and bird watching, as well as a short jaunt to Ulva Island, another bird sanctuary.

Back on the mainland we’ve booked a bus tour of the Catlins, a forest park east of Invercargill. The bus takes us all the way up to Dunedin, where we’ll be staying for a day to see the penguins and the albatross colony. We’re then taking a very, very long bus ride from Dunedin up to Kaikoura in one day. In Kaikoura we’re going on two boat tours - one to see albatross and one to see sperm whales. Then we take a bus back to Christchurch, where we fly back to Auckland. After some final time there we’ll fly back to SFO on December 15th.