New Zealand

North, South and Stewart Islands

12 to 28 February 2005

pre-tour option: 11 February Hauraki Gulf pelagic trip

post-tour option: 1 & 2 March Kapiti Island

 

Pre-tour option: 11 February Hauraki Gulf pelagic
We take a pelagic trip towards Great and Little Barrier Islands, north east of Auckland. While there are some exciting seabirds to be seen in this area, the recently rediscovered New Zealand storm petrel would, without question, be the highlight. Cook's and Pycrof'ts petrel are also possible on this trip as well as black petrel, Buller's and flesh-footed shearwaters.
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Day 1
12 February
Auckland to Tiritiri Matangi Island
Meet at 6.30 a.m. for breakfast; 8.00 a.m. departure to Auckland Wharf.
We catch the ferry for the short ride from Auckland Wharf to Tiritiri Matangi Island (pronounced teary -teary ma-tang-ee). Tiritiri Matangi is an island that has been revegetated to its original state over the last 20 years. We should see bellbird, tui, grey warbler, whitehead, saddleback and with luck, red-crowned parakeet and stitchbird. The most peculiar species on the island is the maladroit takahe (tark-a-hay), a gargantuan, primitive swamphen. Brown teal should be seen on the dams.

Arriving back in Auckland mid-afternoon we make haste for the township of Thames.
Overnight: Thames

Day 2
13 February
Thames to Te Kuite
Early morning will see us checking out the vast mudflats of the Firth of Thames. At high tide, thousands of shorebirds roost on the shell banks at Miranda. Species that we should see include wrybill, New Zealand dotterel, variable oystercatcher, white-fronted tern and black-billed gull. We’ll lunch at the Miranda Naturalists’ Trust Visitors’ Centre before driving on to Te Kuite.
Overnight: Te Kuite

Day 3
14 February
Te Kuit2
We have an early start this morning to get to Mapara. This reserve contains the largest extant population of kokako, and with luck, we should see this beautiful and melodious bird. Other species possible here include NZ falcon (New Zealand’s only endemic raptor), long-tailed cuckoo, whitehead, tomtit, bellbird, tui and New Zealand pigeon.

After lunch, we will visit Pureora Forest, a large area of native forest which contains such delights as North Island kaka, yellow-fronted parakeet, grey warbler and New Zealand robin.
Overnight: Te Kuiti

Day 4
15 February
Te-Kuite to Turangi
This morning we search for blue duck, one of New Zealand’s most extraordinary and certainly most difficult species. This species feed around rocks in the headwaters of fast flowing mountain streams and pairs are at a low density. We have a good track record with this duck and hopefully luck will be with us again.
Later in the day, we will check out Lake Taupo for the delightful NZ dabchick. We also have a fall back spot for the blue duck, should we need it.
Overnight: Turangi

16 February
Day 5
Turangi to Wellington to Picton, on the South Island
Today is mainly a travelling day as we head down to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand; then by ferry, we cross the Cook Strait to Picton in the late afternoon. Possible seabirds seen during the crossing include fluttering and Hutton's shearwater and cape, giant, mottled petrel and maybe an albatross or two.
Overnight: Picton

17 February
Day 6
Picton to Kaikoura
We cruise the sheltered waters of Queen Charlotte Sound where we have a good prospect of seeing the enchanting Hector’s dolphin, an endangered New Zealand endemic, as well as sooty and fluttering shearwaters and little blue penguin. Our destination is White Rocks where there is a highly localised colony of king shags, a species only found in the Marlbough Sounds. On the return journey we’ll stop off at Motuara Island for South Island Saddleback rescued from the brink of extinction, and some amiable New Zealand robins.

Later in the afternoon we’ll drive south following the spectacular coast line to Kaikoura.
Overnight: Kaikoura

18 February
Day 7
Kaikoura to Christchurch
This morning we’ll take a boat trip off Kaikoura where there is a wealth of seabirds. We don’t need to travel far because the edge of the continental shelf is only one kilometre offshore. Species we are likely to encounter include Hutton’s, Bullers, flesh-footed and sooty shearwaters; wandering, Salvin’s, white-capped and black-browed albatrosses; and giant, cape, Westland, white-chinned and great-winged petrels. Sperm whales and dusky dolphins should also be in attendance. After lunch, we head south to Christchurch; later in the afternoon we visit Hagley Park to look for little owl, an introduced species to New Zealand.
Overnight: Christchurch

19 February
Day 8
Christchurch to Twizel
We travel south from Christchurch, crossing braided river beds where we should find black-fronted tern and banded dotterel (double-banded plover). We will then head west into the dry open spaces of the MacKenzie Country. We’ll check out likely sites for black stilt, one of the rarest waders in the world with less than 80 individuals remaining. Nearby Lakes Alexandrina and MacGregor usually have an assortment of waterfowl including NZ scaup, shoveler and paradise duck, among them.
Overnight Twizel

20 February
Day 9
Twizel area
This morning we continue our search for black stilt on the river deltas, and banded dotterel, wrybill and black-fronted terns on the braided river beds. We will also visit Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak at 3764 metres. We may see New Zealand falcon here and keas are also a possibility. The delightful rifleman should also be present.
Overnight: Twizel

21 February
Day 10
Twizel to Dunedin
Today we travel to the small city of Dunedin on the east coast. En route, searching the coastal headlands, we should see spotted and Stewart Island shags, and the endangered yellow-eyed penguin coming ashore to its nesting colonies.
Overnight: Dunedin

22 February
Day 11
Dunedin to Stewart Island
This morning we will visit the only mainland colony of the northern royal albatross at Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula just out of Dunedin before travelling on to Bluff for a late afternoon crossing of Foveaux Strait. We will be looking out for seabirds on the 30 km crossing. Possible seabirds include common diving-petrel, sooty shearwater, shy albatross and cape petrel. Tonight or tomorrow night we'll take a short boat ride to another part of the island with a local guide to spotlight for Stewart Island brown kiwi, the iconic New Zealand bird.
Overnight: Half Moon Bay (Stewart Island)

23 February
Day 12
Stewart Island
This morning we take a boat trip out into Foveaux Strait for seabirds. We should see shy mollymawks around the boat and hope to encounter sooty shearwater, southern skua and possibly yellow-eyed and Fiordland-crested penguins. We will also see the Stewart Island shag, which comes in both a pied and bronze phase, and variable oystercatcher. Lunch will be had on Ulva Island with curious and trusting wekas. A walk through the pristine native bush should produce both red and yellow-crowned parakeets, yellow-breasted tit and NZ pigeon. The amusing South Island Kakas will keep us entertained near our accommodation.
Overnight: Half Moon Bay (Stewart Island)

24 February
Day 13
Stewart Island to Te Anau
The early morning ferry will take us back across Foveaux Strait to Bluff. We travel north, past the green pastures of the Southland farmlands, and on to the World Heritage beech forests of Fiordland. We travel up the beautiful, if often wet, Eglington Valley where we will search for the endangered yellowhead and should see NZ robin, yellow-crowned parakeet and brown creeper. New Zealand falcon is also present in this area.
Overnight: Te Anau Downs

25 February
Day 14
Milford Sound - Eglington Valley
Early morning will see us searching for rock wren (possibly New Zealand’s cutest bird) in and around the rock falls of the Homer Tunnel area, while keeping an eye out for the mischievous keas. We will visit the beautiful Milford Sound and take a scenic cruise where we have a good chance of fiord-crested penguin, before retracing our steps back to Te Anau.
Overnight: Te Anau Downs

26 February
Day 15
Te Anau to Haast
This morning we leave the beech forests of Fiordland, past the vast treeless mountainside of Central Otago, and on to meet the West Coast of Haast. We have another chance for yellowhead, and rifleman should be easily seen in the Beech forest. After dinner we will go spotlighting for Morepork and possibly fiordland-crested penguin.
Haast

27 February
Day 16
Haast to Greymouth
We’ll search the swampy areas around Haast which hold good numbers of fernbirds. As we travel up the coast of South Westland we’ll take a look at the glaciers of Fox and Franz Josef. Franz Josef Glacier had been receding for many years but in the past few years has been steadily advancing towards the sea.
Overnight: Greymouth

28 February
Day 17
Greymouth to Christchurch
We travel back across the South Alps, allowing plenty of time for photos opportunities and we shall probably see some cheeky keas around Arthurs Pass. We arrive in Christchurch in the late afternoon. This is the end of the tour for those people not taking the Kapiti Island option.

Cost: $6,800 AUD twin share (12 to 28 February)
single supplement: TBA

Included: all accommodation from 11 February to 27 February (inclusive), all meals from breakfast 12 Feb to lunch 28 Feb., vehicle transport, guiding, all boat trips and park entrance fees. Cost does not include airfares.

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28 February 6pm flight to Wellington for Kapiti Island option.
Overnight Wellington

Post-tour option
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.

We return to Wellington late afternoon.
Overnight: Wellington

Post tour Kapiti option: $810 AUD twin share includes 2 nights accommodation in Wellington, one night on Kapiti Island, all meals 1 & 2 March, vehicle and ferry transport and Christchurch to Wellington flight, park entry fees/permits and guiding.

possible bird list for New Zealand

species seen on New Zealand 2002 birding tour (this trip did not include a Hauraki Gulf pelagic)

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