New Zealand
Kiwis and Kokakos
Sunday 22 November - Saturday 12 December 2009 (21 days)
Brace yourselves for breathtaking scenery and some of the world's most fascinating endemic birds and flowers, on one of the most exciting wildlife adventures we offer. New Zealand is justly famed for its stunningly beautiful and varied landscape of coastline, forests, mountains and fjords, and its hard-to-match array of endemic wildlife. This year, we've added a stay at spectacular Arthur's Pass, and a new Kiwi excursion to give us two chance to see this fabled night-walker!
© Jamie McMillan/Nature Portfolio
Watching seabirds off Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand
click here to download photos from the 2008 trip (7.6 MB file)
A hundred million years of isolation have made New Zealand very much a world apart in evolutionary terms. The absence of land mammals has given its native birds room to adapt and move into the mammal niches, relatively free of predators. Thus they have evolved into a truly fascinating avifauna, including the famous nocturnal flightless Kiwi, but with many other uniquely-formed and often tame species.
The plants are also highly distinctive and we shall be seeing a splendid range of these as we travel through the New Zealand spring. And, perhaps best of all, there is the spectacular scenery. This ranges from the hot geysers and volcanic springs of North Island to the fjords, alpine glaciers and rushing rivers of South Island, dominated by towering Mount Cook, and culminating in the awesome granite peaks of Fiordland.
Our tour is a wildlife extravaganza, covering the islands from north to south, and visiting a superb range of the New Zealand habitats on land and sea. We begin our tour on North Island, starting with an easy first day on the spectacular west coast, with wonderful views of an Australasian Gannet colony. Next day we sample an excellent array of the endemic landbirds on Tiri Tiri Matangi Island, near Auckland, continuing with the myriads of Siberian waders arriving on the Firth of Thames. We spend another day in the ancient podocarp forests here, where the primitive, endangered Kokako calls eerily from the treetops.
After crossing Cook Strait, we will explore some of the wildest and most spectacular parts of South Island in search of more endemics and a host of seabirds along the coast and inlets. Experiences include probably the most stunningly close encounter with seabirds you'll ever have, one of the most memorable night-birding trips in search of Kiwis, that you'll ever undertake, close encounters with penguins and parrots - sometimes on the same beach - and, above all, arguably the most impressive and varied scenery in the world.
In addition to a superb variety of birds and scenery, New Zealand also boasts good accommodation and excellent home-grown food and wine.
The tour has been devised and organised for us by New Zealand's foremost wildlife tour operator, Mark Hanger
Price: £ 4,595
Single supp.: £ 625
Deposit: £ 600 per person
The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of return scheduled flights* London-Auckland, internal flights as specified, airport taxes, full board accommodation, road and boat transport as described, incidental tips, and the services of the leader(s).
The price excludes travel insurance, optional tips to the local guide(s) and driver, Kaikoura whale-watching trip (which is weather-dependent), drinks and other personal expenses.
*For a price excluding the flights London-Auckland, Dunedin-Auckland and Auckland-London, please deduct £ 895 from the tour cost. If you are booking your own flights please contact us first to check that the times fit with the current itinerary.
This trip will be operated in conjunction with Limosa Holidays.
Leaders: Mike Read & local guides
Please note that the tour can be incorporated into your own private visit to New Zealand. We can organise your flights out on any days you choose, or leave you to make your own arrangements.
Tour Extensions and Independent Travel
Clients frequently ask us to extend their tour by a few days or a week, and we have organised several tailor-made options including whole tours, at any time of year to suit you. We recommend a self-drive option as being particularly cost-effective: all the hard work of bookings is done for you, and you'll get a detailed information pack giving precise directions to the best wildlife spots. Please contact us for more information.
Itinerary:
Days 1 - 2
We take a scheduled flight from London - Auckland.
Day 3
We arrive in the morning at Auckland International Airport where we will be met by our local tour leader and check into our hotel.
Later this morning we depart for the majestic ancient Kauri forests in the Waitakere Ranges. Once widespread in the north, just 150 hectares of pristine forest, containing some of the world's largest trees, remain. A gentle walk here provides an excellent introduction to New Zealand 's lowland forests and some of the city edge birds, including Kereru (New Zealand Pigeon), Fantail and Grey Warbler. A short distance to the west the Tasman Sea batters the coast. Here at Muriwai, spectacular sedimentary bluffs and isolated stacks are one of the very few breeding grounds for the Australasian Gannet. We can get wonderfully close views of these birds on the dramatic coastline.
Overnight Auckland
Day 4
Today we head for one of New Zealand's best spots for endemics, Tiri Tiri Matangi Island. Just 30 minutes away by boat, this small predator-free island offers an excellent introduction to New Zealand endemics, and we should immediately encounter our first Tuis and Bellbirds, together with re-introduced Stitchbird, North Island Saddleback, and Kokako. At lunch we may well be joined by a few tame Takahe - the highly endangered giant flightless gallinule.
Overnight Auckland
Day 5
We travel down to Miranda, an area of saltmarsh and tidal mudflats on the Firth of Thames, a large bay to the south-west of Auckland. This area holds New Zealand's greatest concentration of waders, and in summer has one of the largest populations of migratory shorebirds in the country.
We hope to locate a range of key New Zealand internal migrants such as the scarce Wrybill, with its unique right-bending bill and New Zealand Dotterel. Banded Rail can sometimes be seen near the Visitor Centre.
In the afternoon we head for sulphurous Lake Rotorua, which holds New Zealand Dabchick, Black Swan, Little Pied Shag and New Zealand Scaup, and take a look at some boiling mud pools nearby.
We continue to Taupo for an ovenight stay in an attractive setting overlooking the lake, with snowcapped volcanoes to the south.
Overnight Taupo
Day 6
An early morning start takes us to the so-called 'dinosaur forests' of Pureora - typical of the world as it was 100 million years ago - superb stands of tall, ancient, podocarp forest. This is one of the few places we hope to find the primitive Kokako, something of an emblem of New Zealand conservation, gliding through the canopy, with its evocative calls echoing through the treetops. We'll have a picnic breakfast here, while Tomtit, Grey Warbler and Fantail all sing in the surrounding trees.
We continue on to Tongariro where we stay on the slopes of the spectacular snowcapped volcanoes of the National Park. The rare Blue Duck still clings precariously to the headwaters of rivers in this region, and we may be lucky with them, as on our last two trips.
Overnight Tongariro
Day 7
We continue south to New Zealand's capital city, Wellington. Here, we embark on a three-hour ferry trip across Cook Strait to Picton in the South Island. This afternoon's crossing is delightful, as the sailing takes you first through Wellington Harbour, then across a short stretch of Cook Strait before the final hour spent travelling up the drowned valleys of the Marlborough Sounds. The scenery is spectacular and on the water we should be accompanied by seabirds including Little Penguin, Giant Petrel, Cape Petrel, Fluttering Shearwater and Fairy Prion, the latter sometimes giving us stunning views alongside the vessel.
Overnight Picton
Day 8
The only way to explore the Marlborough Sounds is by charter vessel - so that's just what we will use today. Our boat takes us out beyond the sound into the Tasman Sea where we hope to encounter an excellent variety of seabirds including endangered King Shags. This is also a good area for Dusky Dolphins and we'll look out for the small endemic Hector's Dolphin with its 'Mickey Mouse-ear' dorsal fin.
Late afternoon we travel down the east coastline to the Kaikoura Peninsula where we stay for two nights. Here the snowcapped peaks of the Seaward Kaikoura Range rise dramatically from the coast and form an improbable breeding site for the endemic Hutton's Shearwaters that gather in huge rafts offshore. Under these rafts, the sea floor drops away equally dramatically as the continental shelf comes close inshore. The resulting upwellings of currents form rich feeding grounds for huge numbers of seabirds and a good concentration of cetaceans. It is these that we hope to encounter tomorrow.
Overnight Kaikoura
Day 9
Today's pelagic seabird trip is one of the best we know of anywhere in the world for getting close views of birds in their marine environment. Where else could you get virtually within pecking distance of three species of albatross and within stroking distance of several species of petrels as they come to feed on the oily 'chum' close to our small boat? Photographers can expect to blow their whole supply of memory cards for the trip here if they aren't careful.
Kaikoura is even more famous for its whale-watching trips and is probably the best place in the world to get close to a Sperm Whale. However, the trips are highly weather-dependent. We allow time for you to go on one of these, weather -permitting, as an optional extra (cost approx £45 pp).
Overnight Kaikoura
Day 10
Today we travel down the Kaikoura coast and across the northern Canterbury Plains to the superb mountain scenery of Arthur's Pass National Park. Rifleman, New Zealand's smallest bird, can be found in the surrounding mountain beech forest. We stay at a superb lodge in a wonderful setting amidst the Southern Alps.
Overnight Arthur's Pass
Day 11
We travel down to the west coast, hoping for a glimpse of the Westland race of Weka in the fields at the edges of the podocarp forest, and of Mount Cook on a rare fine day!
We continue south to Franz Joseph, a small town set amongst the glaciers and rainforests of Westland. From here we'll make unique night-time excursion in the company of a local guide to seek out the endangered Okarito Brown Kiwi. In addition we'll have a chance to look for Morepork, New Zealand's endemic owl, and take in the amazing spectacle of thousands of glow-worms shining like stars on the forest floor.
Overnight Franz Joseph
Day 12
We continue further down Westland's battered coastline, stopping for a short walk up to Fox Glacier, amidst glacially-carved mountain scenery, where we'll no doubt encounter the mountain parrot, Kea, and hope to see New Zealand Falcon.
In the afternoon we'll walk down to a beach where we hope to see Fiordland Crested Penguins right at the end of their breeding season.
Overnight Haast
Day 13
We turn inland to cross the Haast Pass. Here in the Southern Beech Forest we have our first opportunity to hear and see the rare Yellowhead along with Brown Creeper.
Beyond the pass the landscape changes dramatically to arid rocky tussocklands, and then to the vast inland plain of Mackenzie Country. We'll visit a nearby river delta for inland waders, most notably Banded Dotterel, and endangered Black Stilt, probably the rarest wader in the world. Black-fronted Tern is a regular sight on the inland lakes and we look for Baillon's Crake and Australasian Bittern. We stay at Lake Ohau for two nights.
Overnight Lake Ohau
Day 14
Further opportunities to enjoy the inland waterbirds will be followed by a visit to the national park surrounding New Zealand's highest peak, Mount Cook, towering to 3,764m. We'll take a four-hour walk in the fabled Hooker Valley, surrounded by awesome peaks and glaciers. The valley is full of endemic flowers, including showy Mt Cook Lilies, Snowberries and alpine Hebes.
Overnight Lake Ohau
Day 15
After driving down to the east coast and having a look at the strange Moeraki boulders, we continue to Dunedin and drive down the Otago Peninsula, stopping to look for shorebirds. In the afternoon we cruise down Otago Harbour to Taiaroa Head, with its colonies of Royal Albatross, Royal Spoonbill and Stewart Island Shags.
Overnight Dunedin
Day 16
We depart Dunedin for Invercargill travelling via the spectacular Catlins coast, where New Zealand Fur Seals bask on the rocks. In the afternoon we fly across to Stewart Island for a two-night stay. Stewart Island still holds vast tracts of podocarp forest, together with most of the endemic birds. Here Kaka parrots fly about the only town, Oban - a place strangely reminiscent of one of the smaller Isles of Scilly - and Little Blue Penguins swim in the harbour.
In the evening we'll meet up with local guide Philip Smith for one of the most memorable night-birding encounters you'll ever experience - a quest for Brown Kiwi. We'll take a boat out to a remote beach, where, with luck, we'll encounter this most elusive and emblematic of New Zealand's birds by torchlight. As a bonus, we may hear the eerie calls of Sooty Shearwaters, and, as we return across the bay, spotlighting may reveal the ghostly forms of petrels and shearwaters returning to their nesting sites.
Overnight Stewart Island
Day 17
Today our charter vessel will take us around the coast of Stewart Island and then out into the Pacific Ocean. We will search for endemic Yellow-eyed Penguins and Brown Skuas on some of the islets here, while on the sea we hope for good views of Shy Albatross and Sooty Shearwater. Back in the bay we land on Ulva Island, predator-free and home to many South Island forest birds including the incredibly tame Weka, a flightless rail.
Overnight Stewart Island
Day 18
After an early morning flight back to Invercargill, we depart for Fiordland National Park, New Zealand's largest and grandest national park, where we stay for two nights. The landscapes are unrivalled in New Zealand and the Red Beech forests of northern Fiordland are home to an excellent array of forest birds.
Overnight Te Anau Downs
Day 19
The Upper Hollyford Valley, through which the famed Milford Road passes, contains superb subalpine herbfields and boulderfields. Weather and snow conditions permitting, we shall spend much of the day here in an area where the boulderfields and cirques are home to the elusive Rock Wren, as well as the threatened Kea.
As a grand finale to the trip, we take a cruise on the fabulously scenic Milford Sound, with its sheer cliffs of granite, and dramatic waterfalls, calling in at an underwater observatory for a chance to see the surprisingly varied array of corals and other marine life.
Overnight Te Anau Downs
Day 20
We return across the southern South Island to Dunedin to connect with our flight north to Auckland and our homeward flight, arriving in London on Day 21.
Accommodation: All hotels and lodges have rooms with private facilities except for the occasional room on Stewart Island.
Numbers: Max. 14 clients
Tour Extensions and Independent Travel
Clients frequently ask us to extend their tour by a few days or a week, and we have organised several tailor-made options including whole tours, at any time of year to suit you. We recommend a self-drive option as being particularly cost-effective: all the hard work of bookings is done for you, and you'll get a detailed information pack giving precise directions to the best wildlife spots. Please contact us for more information.
Itinerary:
Days 1 - 2
We take a scheduled flight from London - Auckland.
Day 3
We arrive in the morning at Auckland International Airport where we will be met by our local tour leader and check into our hotel.
Later this morning we depart for the majestic ancient Kauri forests in the Waitakere Ranges. Once widespread in the north, just 150 hectares of pristine forest, containing some of the world's largest trees, remain. A gentle walk here provides an excellent introduction to New Zealand 's lowland forests and some of the city edge birds, including Kereru (New Zealand Pigeon), Fantail and Grey Warbler. A short distance to the west the Tasman Sea batters the coast. Here at Muriwai, spectacular sedimentary bluffs and isolated stacks are one of the very few breeding grounds for the Australasian Gannet. We can get wonderfully close views of these birds on the dramatic coastline.
Overnight Auckland
Day 4
Today we head for one of New Zealand's best spots for endemics, Tiri Tiri Matangi Island. Just 30 minutes away by boat, this small predator-free island offers an excellent introduction to New Zealand endemics, and we should immediately encounter our first Tuis and Bellbirds, together with re-introduced Stitchbird, North Island Saddleback, and Kokako. At lunch we may well be joined by a few tame Takahe - the highly endangered giant flightless gallinule.
Overnight Auckland
Day 5
We travel down to Miranda, an area of saltmarsh and tidal mudflats on the Firth of Thames, a large bay to the south-west of Auckland. This area holds New Zealand's greatest concentration of waders, and in summer has one of the largest populations of migratory shorebirds in the country.
We hope to locate a range of key New Zealand internal migrants such as the scarce Wrybill, with its unique right-bending bill and New Zealand Dotterel. Banded Rail can sometimes be seen near the Visitor Centre.
In the afternoon we head for sulphurous Lake Rotorua, which holds New Zealand Dabchick, Black Swan, Little Pied Shag and New Zealand Scaup, and take a look at some boiling mud pools nearby.
We continue to Taupo for an ovenight stay in an attractive setting overlooking the lake, with snowcapped volcanoes to the south.
Overnight Taupo
Day 6
An early morning start takes us to the so-called 'dinosaur forests' of Pureora - typical of the world as it was 100 million years ago - superb stands of tall, ancient, podocarp forest. This is one of the few places we hope to find the primitive Kokako, something of an emblem of New Zealand conservation, gliding through the canopy, with its evocative calls echoing through the treetops. We'll have a picnic breakfast here, while Tomtit, Grey Warbler and Fantail all sing in the surrounding trees.
We continue on to Tongariro where we stay on the slopes of the spectacular snowcapped volcanoes of the National Park. The rare Blue Duck still clings precariously to the headwaters of rivers in this region, and we may be lucky with them, as on our last two trips.
Overnight Tongariro
Day 7
We continue south to New Zealand's capital city, Wellington. Here, we embark on a three-hour ferry trip across Cook Strait to Picton in the South Island. This afternoon's crossing is delightful, as the sailing takes you first through Wellington Harbour, then across a short stretch of Cook Strait before the final hour spent travelling up the drowned valleys of the Marlborough Sounds. The scenery is spectacular and on the water we should be accompanied by seabirds including Little Penguin, Giant Petrel, Cape Petrel, Fluttering Shearwater and Fairy Prion, the latter sometimes giving us stunning views alongside the vessel.
Overnight Picton
Day 8
The only way to explore the Marlborough Sounds is by charter vessel - so that's just what we will use today. Our boat takes us out beyond the sound into the Tasman Sea where we hope to encounter an excellent variety of seabirds including endangered King Shags. This is also a good area for Dusky Dolphins and we'll look out for the small endemic Hector's Dolphin with its 'Mickey Mouse-ear' dorsal fin.
Late afternoon we travel down the east coastline to the Kaikoura Peninsula where we stay for two nights. Here the snowcapped peaks of the Seaward Kaikoura Range rise dramatically from the coast and form an improbable breeding site for the endemic Hutton's Shearwaters that gather in huge rafts offshore. Under these rafts, the sea floor drops away equally dramatically as the continental shelf comes close inshore. The resulting upwellings of currents form rich feeding grounds for huge numbers of seabirds and a good concentration of cetaceans. It is these that we hope to encounter tomorrow.
Overnight Kaikoura
Day 9
Today's pelagic seabird trip is one of the best we know of anywhere in the world for getting close views of birds in their marine environment. Where else could you get virtually within pecking distance of three species of albatross and within stroking distance of several species of petrels as they come to feed on the oily 'chum' close to our small boat? Photographers can expect to blow their whole supply of memory cards for the trip here if they aren't careful.
Kaikoura is even more famous for its whale-watching trips and is probably the best place in the world to get close to a Sperm Whale. However, the trips are highly weather-dependent. We allow time for you to go on one of these, weather -permitting, as an optional extra (cost approx £45 pp).
Overnight Kaikoura
Day 10
Today we travel down the Kaikoura coast and across the northern Canterbury Plains to the superb mountain scenery of Arthur's Pass National Park. Rifleman, New Zealand's smallest bird, can be found in the surrounding mountain beech forest. We stay at a superb lodge in a wonderful setting amidst the Southern Alps.
Overnight Arthur's Pass
Day 11
We travel down to the west coast, hoping for a glimpse of the Westland race of Weka in the fields at the edges of the podocarp forest, and of Mount Cook on a rare fine day!
We continue south to Franz Joseph, a small town set amongst the glaciers and rainforests of Westland. From here we'll make unique night-time excursion in the company of a local guide to seek out the endangered Okarito Brown Kiwi. In addition we'll have a chance to look for Morepork, New Zealand's endemic owl, and take in the amazing spectacle of thousands of glow-worms shining like stars on the forest floor.
Overnight Franz Joseph
Day 12
We continue further down Westland's battered coastline, stopping for a short walk up to Fox Glacier, amidst glacially-carved mountain scenery, where we'll no doubt encounter the mountain parrot, Kea, and hope to see New Zealand Falcon.
In the afternoon we'll walk down to a beach where we hope to see Fiordland Crested Penguins right at the end of their breeding season.
Overnight Haast
Day 13
We turn inland to cross the Haast Pass. Here in the Southern Beech Forest we have our first opportunity to hear and see the rare Yellowhead along with Brown Creeper.
Beyond the pass the landscape changes dramatically to arid rocky tussocklands, and then to the vast inland plain of Mackenzie Country. We'll visit a nearby river delta for inland waders, most notably Banded Dotterel, and endangered Black Stilt, probably the rarest wader in the world. Black-fronted Tern is a regular sight on the inland lakes and we look for Baillon's Crake and Australasian Bittern. We stay at Lake Ohau for two nights.
Overnight Lake Ohau
Day 14
Further opportunities to enjoy the inland waterbirds will be followed by a visit to the national park surrounding New Zealand's highest peak, Mount Cook, towering to 3,764m. We'll take a four-hour walk in the fabled Hooker Valley, surrounded by awesome peaks and glaciers. The valley is full of endemic flowers, including showy Mt Cook Lilies, Snowberries and alpine Hebes.
Overnight Lake Ohau
Day 15
After driving down to the east coast and having a look at the strange Moeraki boulders, we continue to Dunedin and drive down the Otago Peninsula, stopping to look for shorebirds. In the afternoon we cruise down Otago Harbour to Taiaroa Head, with its colonies of Royal Albatross, Royal Spoonbill and Stewart Island Shags.
Overnight Dunedin
Day 16
We depart Dunedin for Invercargill travelling via the spectacular Catlins coast, where New Zealand Fur Seals bask on the rocks. In the afternoon we fly across to Stewart Island for a two-night stay. Stewart Island still holds vast tracts of podocarp forest, together with most of the endemic birds. Here Kaka parrots fly about the only town, Oban - a place strangely reminiscent of one of the smaller Isles of Scilly - and Little Blue Penguins swim in the harbour.
In the evening we'll meet up with local guide Philip Smith for one of the most memorable night-birding encounters you'll ever experience - a quest for Brown Kiwi. We'll take a boat out to a remote beach, where, with luck, we'll encounter this most elusive and emblematic of New Zealand's birds by torchlight. As a bonus, we may hear the eerie calls of Sooty Shearwaters, and, as we return across the bay, spotlighting may reveal the ghostly forms of petrels and shearwaters returning to their nesting sites.
Overnight Stewart Island
Day 17
Today our charter vessel will take us around the coast of Stewart Island and then out into the Pacific Ocean. We will search for endemic Yellow-eyed Penguins and Brown Skuas on some of the islets here, while on the sea we hope for good views of Shy Albatross and Sooty Shearwater. Back in the bay we land on Ulva Island, predator-free and home to many South Island forest birds including the incredibly tame Weka, a flightless rail.
Overnight Stewart Island
Day 18
After an early morning flight back to Invercargill, we depart for Fiordland National Park, New Zealand's largest and grandest national park, where we stay for two nights. The landscapes are unrivalled in New Zealand and the Red Beech forests of northern Fiordland are home to an excellent array of forest birds.
Overnight Te Anau Downs
Day 19
The Upper Hollyford Valley, through which the famed Milford Road passes, contains superb subalpine herbfields and boulderfields. Weather and snow conditions permitting, we shall spend much of the day here in an area where the boulderfields and cirques are home to the elusive Rock Wren, as well as the threatened Kea.
As a grand finale to the trip, we take a cruise on the fabulously scenic Milford Sound, with its sheer cliffs of granite, and dramatic waterfalls, calling in at an underwater observatory for a chance to see the surprisingly varied array of corals and other marine life.
Overnight Te Anau Downs
Day 20
We return across the southern South Island to Dunedin to connect with our flight north to Auckland and our homeward flight, arriving in London on Day 21.
Accommodation: All hotels and lodges have rooms with private facilities except for the occasional room on Stewart Island.
Numbers: Max. 14 clients