Tiritiri Matangi

Tiritiri Matangi is an island a couple of miles off the coast of the Whangaparoa peninsula. (There are a bunch of towns/neighborhoods on the isthmus, including Army Bay, Red Beach and Stanmore Bay, but our favorites are Big Manly and Little Manly – who would name a town “Little Manly”, especially on a piece of land shaped like a peninsula?) Tiritiri Matangi is special because it is an open bird sanctuary – there are no possums, rats, mice, stoats or other such anti-bird creatures on the island. Instead, there are a number of rare New Zealand species on the island, including kiwis, takahes, stitch birds, North Island saddlebacks, etc. See http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/ for info on the island, including pictures of these birds. We saw a couple takahes (thanks to Quentin’s keen eye), many stitch birds and saddlebacks, but kiwis are essentially impossible to see during the day. The island is chock full of tuis, which alone makes the visit to the island worthwhile.



We arrived at the island via a ferry that was overflowing with “rock watchers” – our term for people that want peace and quiet as they enjoy nature. In other words, rock watchers are not compatible with our kids, who are generally wildly excited about nature, but not quiet in their admiration. Furthermore, the main trail around the island is narrow (say 3-4 feet wide), so you were forced into the contemplative pace of the rock watchers with guides which, again, was not very compatible with our kids. Hence, our visit improved immensely once we were able to find a trail that didn’t have other people on it.




Upon leaving the island, we realized that somehow we managed to leave our New Zealand bird book on the island. We are getting a bit prickly about leaving things behind in the midst of the chaos of our lives. Xavier implored Beth and Gerard not to get too upset given that we otherwise had a good day on the island, but it was hard to not let it “rain on the day” - Beth carried it from the states and that was the first and last time we flipped through it. But overall it was a good day, so we will go back, especially now that we have a better sense of how to manage the island and the crowds.