Kapiti Island

1 & 2 March Kapiti Island
We catch the 9 a.m. ferry from Paraparaumu, a small township about 50 km north of Wellington on the North Island. Kapiti Island is about a 20 minute voyage. We return to Paraparaumu the following day (2 March) on the 3 p.m. ferry, staying overnight in Wellington.

Kapiti Island, divested of its rats, gives the visitor an inkling of what New Zealand was like before the introduction of mammalian predators.
It has the largest population of little spotted kiwi, a species extinct on the mainland and existing only on some offshore islands. This species is the smallest of the kiwis, with pale grey and cream plumage rendering a speckled effect. Mostly nocturnal, their sharp calls can be heard around our accommodation.

Besides little spotted kiwi, Kapiti Island has a good population of most of the other New Zealand endemics that are rare or extinct on the mainland. These include red-crowned parakeet, takahe, North Island saddleback, stitchbird and North Island robin, plus the ever-confident weka and North Island kaka. After nightfall we have a chance for morepork and little blue penguin and of course, little spotted kiwi.

Kapiti is being offered as a post-tour option, rather than during the North Island tour due to the small chance of being unable to depart from the island on schedule should the weather turn bad.

Those birders who are on the main New Zealand tour will catch the 6pm flight to Wellington on 28 February, staying overnight in Wellington.

Pre-tour Hauraki Gulf pelagic for New Zeland storm-petrel

2005 New Zealand itinerary

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