Up Close & Personal on Kapiti Island

For those like me who have spent a lifetime viewing Kapiti Island from the other side (Kapiti Coast), I recommend you get yourself over to the island and see what this amazing nature reserve has to offer. I was fortunate to be gifted a trip, with my husband, by my husband for an overnight glamping stay on the island. Kapiti Island Nature Tours offers this unique opportunity and they certainly exceeded my expectations on our 2 day 1 night adventure.

Kapiti Island is situated five kilometres off the Kāpiti coastline. The island is an internationally famed nature reserve protecting some of Aotearoa New Zealand's most endangered birds. The 1,965-hectare island is one of the few relatively accessible island nature reserves in the country and is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s pre-eminent sites for bird recovery. It’s a unique visitor experience in a predator-free paradise where you can get up close and personal with rare New Zealand birds such as the kaka, kokako, takahe and hihi while wandering tracks fringed with dense forest.  Another highlight is the climb up the 521m peak for amazing panoramic views across the sea and over to the Kapiti Coast. Access to the island is by approved tour operators only and in our case Kapiti Island Nature Tours - https://www.kapitiisland.com/​

Our stay and trip over to the island started early on a Monday morning from a meeting point at Paraparaumu Beach.  After checking in, bag search (to ensure we weren’t taking over any nasties such as mice to this predator free island) and collecting our packed picnic lunch we headed down to the waterfront to board our ferry.  A quick trip across the sea and on arrival were greeted by a lovely young guide who welcomed us and our fellow passengers with an introductory kōrero (talk), explained the island tikanga (etiquette) and suggested the best hikoi (walking) options for our group.

Our tour package included a ½ hour guided tour, following that we were left to our own devices to explore that part of the island  - enjoying walking tracks through dense forest whilst keeping a keen eye out for the amazing varieties of bird life.

At 2.45pm we met up on the beachfront and again boarded the ferry and transported to the part of the island were we spent the night and the rest of our time on the island.

On arrival we were welcomed, guided to a private lodge where we were given a fascinating history talk, our programme for the next 24 hours on the island and taken to our accommodation - a choice of cabins or glamping (in our case we had booked glamping). At 5.30pm we were invited to  meet up at the lodge for pre dinner drinks and nibbles and a chance to socialise with the 14 other guests.  Following drinks a delicious meal of soup, roast lamb, roast veggies, salads, bread and a cake for dessert was served.  

At dinner we were instructed to meet up at dark for an eagerly anticipated search for kiwi.  Searching for kiwi entitled the group to follow our guide very closely  while he held a red light, and to walk slowly in a line, without making a sound.  Our guide would stop every so often when he recognised the sounds of kiwi callings.   Sadly on our occasion we heard many kiwi calling but never  actually saw one.

After a fun but unsuccessful kiwi hunt we walked back to our tent and enjoyed the luxury of sleeping with  views of stars and the noises of kiwi and weka calling.  We woke early to the sounds of the birds waking and the sun streaming into our tent - such a lovely way to wake before heading to the lodge for breakfast and another chance to socialise.

  After breakfast, with more free time on hand we explored new tracks, a walk along the coast, an uphill walk with more bird watching and magnificent views and a lovely cooked lunch waiting for us on our return. 

Did we get up close and personal with the birdlife? - we certainly did and such a highlight to this lovely trip.

After a leisurely lunch we head back down to the waterfront for the arrival of our ferry to take us back to Paraparaumu Beach and the end of our amazing time on Kapiti Island.

You did well Mike - the best Christmas present ever.