While in Auckland many people encouraged us to visit Tiritiri Matangi, a small island nature sanctuary, 20 minutes by ferry from mainland NZ. Most people take a day trip with the local ferry, but Chris and I decided we would spend the night in the Department of Conservation bunkhouse in order to observe my favorite nocturnal birds, the penguin & kiwi. Weekend bookings were completely filled for the rest of our time in NZ, so we decided to take the kids out of school for two days and go over a weekday. That was over a month ago and as time got closer and our time in New Zealand shrunk our desires changed this family trip into a girl’s trip.
Tiritiri Matangi is a pest free bird sanctuary and research island. It derives its power from solar and all water is through rain catchment. You need to bring all your own food (and bedding) and take all your rubbish when you leave.
Aleah and I packed two sandwiches, two steak salads, some meat/cheese & crackers and granola bars for our 29 hour visit to the island. We arrived on the island and started our visit with a guided walk hosted by Friends of Tiritiri Matangi volunteers. After our walk we met with the ranger in the bunkhouse with the other 10 people who were staying the night. At this point the ranger told us that the ferry for the next day was cancelled and we could either depart on the return ferry today (in 2 hrs) or stay an additional night and depart on Friday’s ferry. However, the weather on Friday was looking worse and there were no guarantees that the ferry would run on Friday either.
We decided that Aleah needed to get back. We had tickets for the local school musical for the following night and other things she didn’t want to miss. I hemmed & hawed over staying or going and finally decided that I didn’t have any compelling reason not to ride out the adventure on the island. With Aleah gone I should be able to make the food last the necessary days, and to add to that, a departing family gave me some curry & rice to make my life even more comfortable. I took Aleah down to the ferry and waved her off and then headed back to the bunkhouse to pack in.
The two biggest reasons I wanted to visit Tiritiri were to watch the little blue penguins come home at night and spy a rare little spotted kiwi. My previous night bird hunts have always been with a small group of people. Walking alone at night thru native kiwi jungle, while the trees blow and howl in a storm, is quite a different experience. When walking I would tell myself, there are no predators out here, there are no snakes. The scariest thing on the island is probably the giant weta, a large grasshopper looking insect. When looking for kiwis you are really listening for the rustling of them on the forest floor. They make a lot of noise as they walk and move leaves with their large feet and bill looking for their daily meal of insects. So not only is it dark and you are by yourself, which is a little scary, you are also purposefully listening for rustling sounds all around. When roaming in the dark, I was trying not to picture a mass murderer jumping out behind me because I’ve seen one too many movies about this scenario. Luckily the only thing that startled me was a little spotted kiwi and it was kind enough to let me observe its foraging for a good long while.
Watching for the little blue penguin is a lot less scary of an undertaking because it is done at the seashore. The penguins gather offshore, but close enough that you can see them with binoculars, in a large group called a raft. When they decide it is dark enough to protect them from predators they all swim to shore together and run to their burrows above the rocks. I started watching them a few minutes before sunset and listened to them calling to each other and play around in the water. By an hour after sunset it was too dark to see them anymore and they still weren’t making any move towards coming in to land. Darn it! Come on penguins, I got stranded so I could see you!! I finally moved to the area of rocks that I had previously scoped out as their burrows based on droppings and feathers and decided to wait there with my red light on. Success! Not long after moving, I began to hear the sounds of penguins approaching and witnessed a few hoping about just feet away from me. It is amazing how well they climb rocks only using their feet. And it never fails to surprise me just how small they are!
After the success of seeing both kiwi and penguins, I headed to bed. The next morning brought the storm, as expected. The island was buffeted by lots of high winds and continuous rain, though it was rarely in downpour conditions. I dressed in my rain gear and attempted to venture out whenever there was a break in the storm and succeeded in sighting some of the native birds doing the same.
During the worst of the storm, and even during the power outage, I completed a puzzle, knitted and listened to a few audiobooks. I suffered through instant coffee and ate the sandwich and salads I had packed. I made friends with the only other two guests of the island. The other four people on island were employees and sanctuary volunteers and therefore busy working through most of the storm.
Day four dawned sunny and clear and I knew it was time to head home. After packing up my room I took a final long walk around the island before the ferry departure that afternoon. What a wonderful, peaceful break from the world but I missed my family and looked forward to their welcome back hugs.
What a beautiful adventure!