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batzi
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North Island ▷ Wellington Region ▷ Kapiti Island ▷
Kapiti Island Nature Tours
4.0/5
I stayed two days on Kapiti Island from 05/01/-06/01/2012.
The accommodation was simple considering the quite expensive price, but the food was extraordinary good with fresh Paua and other seafood. The birdwatching was productive with Stitchbird (note: just Rangatira Landing), Takahe, Saddleback, Blue Penguin, Brown Teal, Weka and Kaka. The Kiwi spotting tour was exciting, but we were not lucky to see them. Summarising the experience I can recommend staying overnight on Kapiti with Nature Tours, but it is expensive.
Sebastian, Germany
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South Island ▷ West Coast ▷ Okarito ▷
Okarito Kiwi Tours
5.0/5
I have been on a Rowi Tour in April with seven other people and Ian as the guide.
Trip date: 03/04/2012, 18:45-21:45
The conditions were very good with exceptional good weather the days before (clear, no wind, dry). After a short introduction we headed out well equipped (spotlights, mosquito protection etc. provided) towards Rowi habitat into tall Podocarp forest. Due to the radio tagged Kiwis it is posssible for Ian to locate the birds and follow their movement in the bush along the forest track without seeing them. After approximately 2 hours team work and patience we were lucky first to hear and even spot a female Rowi for less than one minute coming out from the bush on the track very close (ca. 1 m). Half an hour later we heard another pair calling. About 9:30pm we headed back towards Okarito.
Wether you are a birder or not I can highly recommend joining a Kiwi tour in Okarito. For the non-birder it is a very good opportunity to get a taste of what is bird watching like - staying patiently at one place in the deepest night with a lot of mosquitos for hours for spotting one bird for just 30 seconds!! For the birder it is an unique opportunity to experience the rarest of the five Kiwi species in their natural forest habitat. In comparison to other Kiwi experiences I had (Northland, Kapiti Island, Stewart Island) the Okarito Tour offers Kiwi spotting in Podocarp forest, the most difficult surrounding for observing a Kiwi and to do so with a very low impact for the birds (due to the radio transmitters). Thanks Ian for this unique experience.
Sebastian, Germany
Awesome review Sebastian.
This was the last big trip of the season. All went to plan and I had a great group of people to share another magical night.
Thanks for making the effort of reviewing. It all helps me gain an insight inot what I am doing right, or, what I can improve on.
Ian Okarito Kiwi Tours
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South Island ▷ Kaikoura Region ▷ Kaikoura ▷
Albatross Encounter Kaikoura
3.5/5
I joined an Albatross Encounter Tour on 03/02/2012 6am with two other people.
The conditions very quite good early in the morning and we had very good views on different Albatross species, Westland Black Petrels, White-chinned, N Giant Petrel and more. A nice addition was a flock of Dusky Dolphins. Mr. Melville was a friendly and knowledgeable guide.
Reasons for "just" 7 points: It was a pitty that I had to drag all the information about the birds out of Mr. Melville`s nose, because he didn`t explain almost anything about the fascinating ecology of seabirds or their identification. And he knows without doubt very much about the birds! That was definetly a crucial lack of the tour, because it is essential to educate people in order to improve the conservation of those threatened bird species.
Furthermore it is a quite expensive experience for 2,5 hours birdwatching.
Sebastian, Germany
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Paihia ▷
Swim with the Dolphins
1.5/5
I have been on a "Hole in the Rock" tour on 13/11/2011 in Paihia.
We saw a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins and some distant Common Dolphins. A stop at Urupukapuka Island was included, as well. The "Hole in the Rock" was the announced Highlight of the Tour.
After finishing my several months trip through NZ I can`t recommend Dolphin Discoveries. It is expensive, the whole thing seems to aim the customers money. The crew is busier with taking photos of you than to provide an experience of the Bay of Island environment. Please spend your money for other activities than for the "Hole in your Pocket" tour with Dolphin Discoveries.
Sebastian, Germany