Blogs from Tiritiri Matangi Island, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

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I know this is a few days out of date but we are doing things everyday. I'm writing and publishing these blogs from, New Plymouth, Taranaki on a sunny Tuesday evening, very early morning for all back home. Auckland 13th March Well we made it to New Zealand, even after leaving Papeete and going through a Force 10 gale. The weather was blowy when we disembarked and we were surprised at the number of people transferring off the ship. Our tour round the North Island is centred on Auckland and it's a big thanks to our friends, John & Heather (the Paine family) who have allowed us to use their house as a base and to leave our luggage with them as we go North or South of the City of Sails. Our plans are fluid ... read more
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Bonjour à tous ! Beaucoup de choses et d'événements depuis mon dernier update ! Encore de la pluie hier, j'en ai profité pour visiter le Auckland War Museum. Ce qui est le plus intéressant dans ce musée c'est la vaste collection d'item Maori et aussi des autres peuples polynésiens. J'ai aussi vu une autre performance Maori, incluant le célèbre Haka ! Je vous met quelques photos. Surprise quand je suis sortis du musée la pluie avait cessé et j'ai pu profiter du domaine qui entoure le musée. Le jour de l'an ici c'est un peu malade.. Surtout que l'endroit ou je suis c'est en plein coeur de la ville. Il y a eu le feu d'artifice à minuit qui est lancé du Sky Tower. Et ensuite les gens ont brossé toute la nuit. Moi je me ... read more
Maori Meeting House
Maori Meeting House
Tiritiri Matangi


Bonjour les amis! Hi Friends! Le weekend dernier, nous sommes allés visiter une ile a une heure en bateau au nord d'Auckland. L'Ile de Tiri Tiri Matangi est un sanctuaire d'oiseaux rares, dont certains qu'on ne trouve que d. On peut y voir des saddleback, des Robin, des Kokako, des Pokeko, Takahe, Kiwis et même des pingouins bleus. Nous y avons passé toute la fin de semaine a admirer et écouter le chant des milliers d'oiseaux tropicaux qui s'y trouvent. Ce fut un weekend très relaxant. Last week, we spent the whole weekend on Tiri Tiri Matangi Island, an hour north of Auckland by ferry. This island is a bird sanctuary where you can see rare birds, some species that you can only find in the area. You can see saddleback birds, Robins, Kokakos, Pokekos, Takahes, ... read more
Bird watching
East Coast of the Island
Cote ouest de l'ile


Tiritiri Matangi (literally "tossed by the wind" in Maori) is an open island reserve (ie allows public access) where many rare New Zealand bird thrive. Tiri was originally home to a couple of Maori triebs the Kawerau-A-Maki & later the Ngati Paoa. During the mid 1850s European settlers arrived and since then the island was continually farmed until the 1970s. An army of volunteers have helped replant native species and create a series of footpaths allowing visitors to explore the island with minimal impact on the wildlife. It's also home to several researchers including one I met whilst ringing waders earlier this summer. She kindly invited me to join her as she showed an artist around the island which meant I got a brilliant tour of the place, a lot of it off the public paths, ... read more
Male bellbird
Tui
Takahe


Saturday we were up early to go down towards Auckland for a day trip to Tiritiri Matangi Island. Tiritiri Matangi, meaning “tossed by the wind”, is a protected, predator free island run by DOC as an open scientific reserve and wildlife sanctuary. Only a limited number of people are allowed to visit each day, and so you have to book a bit in advance. ( www.360discovery.co.nz) We caught the ferry from Gulf Harbour, a development towards the end of the Whangaparoa Peninsula, which was much easier than driving all the way into the city, having to find parking (and pay for it!) and be there earlier than we needed to be at Gulf Harbour, and the ferry costs more from the city. Getting on the ferry, we thought we'd be rained on soon as all we ... read more
Bellbird
Saddleback
Stitchbird


For Christmas this year, Glynn and I received a wonderful present from our friends Liz and Allard - two tickets for a trip to Tiritiri Matangi Island complete with guided walk. We've been itching to go and this weekend we had no firm plans beyond dinner with our new French friend, Cecile, on friday night. We left it too late to book for Saturday morning so had a lazy day at home and instead booked for Sunday. It was an early start for a Sunday - up at 6.30am, on the road at 7.30am and down at Auckland Harbour in plenty of time for 8.30am boarding. The weather forecast earlier in the week had been for scattered showers but upon depature, there was nothing but blue sky overhead. Despite the sunny conditions, it was too cold ... read more
Life on the Ocean Waves
Krazy Kayakers
Tiritiri Matangi


We arrived at Owera just before dark and checked into a Top 10 camp site, we needed to wash some clothes, shower and check email. While Pili was showering I cooked up a couple of sirloin steaks. The next morning we hastily packed up camp, not before I took some gorgeous shots of a Monarch Butterfly (these graceful insects migrate to Mexico across the Pacific!!). We headed down to Gulf Harbour to catch our ferry Pili had booked the previous day via phone, we also were staying on the island overnight. I can’t remember being so excited, this is a boyhood ambition about to be fulfilled. On arriving at the harbour car park I heard someone shout, “What time do you call this??” my blood ran cold for a moment, thinking it was Neal & Louise. ... read more
Gulf Harbour
Finally we arrive on Tiritiri
On top of Tiritiri


I was greeted in Auckland by an afternoon of heavy rainfall, obscuring my view of the high rise city centre and sky tower until the next day. After this though the weather quickly improved and the rest if the week was mostly hot and sunny. The largest city in New Zealand, with something like a third of the national population, Central Auckland is a big dirty mess of suburbs and shopping districts clustered around two harbours. There is a lot of volcanic history here, with extinct cones of Mt Eden and Victoria looming above the city, and the still-active peak of Rangitoto island always on the horizon. It seems to me like a very precarious location for New Zealand's economic capital. My primary objective in Auckland was to visit Tiritiri Matangi Island - a small island ... read more
Rangitoto Island
Tiritiri Matangi Lighthouse
Takahe


I saw a kiwi. Ok, that's pretty much the punchline for this one - but I saw a kiwi in it's natural habitat. In the zoo, and on the other side of a thick pane of glass doesn't count in my book. I just wish I had some photographic proof. Never mind, I know. Tiritiri Matangi Island is a 2.2 square kilometre bird sanctuary in the Hauraki Gulf. Farmed until 1971, massive replanting and pest eradication programmes have gone a long way toward the survival of rare bird and plant species. Most of the people staying out on Tiritiri are either volunteers or researchers, but there is a limited amount of accomodation for other visitors. Staying overnight on Tiritiri is definitely the way to see the island. This was a first-time visit for me, so I ... read more
Tiritiri Matangi Island
Pukeko
Tiritiri Matangi Island


Hello, Excursion by ferry to Tiritiri Matangi Island, a bird reserve west of Auckland. Hallo, Uitstap naar een vogelreservaat opTiritiri Matangi, een eiland ten westen van Auckland. Groetjes, Marijke en Luc... read more
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Tiritiri Matangi Island 002
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