I awoke to a torrential downpour at six, but at breakfast Carol said that the storm had come from the north-west and it should clear from that direction, so we should take off as planned at nine.
Carol took us in her car which gave Bob a break from driving on the “wrong” side of the road and gave him a chance to relax and sightsee. We drove past flooded fields and rivers flowing over their banks and started to see some Blue Sky! We learned later that this area received 7.5” of rain from this storm!
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| Flooded fields |
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| Pied Stilt |
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| White-faced Heron |
Carol stopped frequently so we could check out the birds which was great as she knows all the hot spots. We drove to Doubtless Bay, a wide curving bay of endless sand, pretty resorts and vacation villas.
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| Coopers Beach at Doubtless Bay |
We almost made it to the west coast and 90-mile beach, but Carol stopped at an estuary where an old fishing boat has been disintegrating for many years and has become a nesting site for the beautiful White-fronted Tern.
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| White-fronted Tern, with fish! |
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| Tern nesting spot |
We turned around at the south end of the Aupouri Peninsula, the tiny northern-most finger of land that juts up from the north island and started back continuing to stop for new birds. We drove up into a forest reserve to an elevation of 1000’ and entered the Manginangina Forest Reserve boardwalk. It was like entering a fairyland! Suddenly we were in a forest of huge, ancient Kauri trees standing like grey, perfectly straight columns surrounded by large tree ferns and epiphytes. Just amazing! The remaining pockets of these trees are now protected and Monterey Pine plantations now supply lumber, but it’s a tragedy that more weren’t saved.
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| Kauri Trees |
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| Forest reserve boardwalk |
We returned home at 4 PM to find the grey drippy garden full of sunshine and more birds! We’re relaxing until 8 PM when Carol will take us out to search for the North Island Brown Kiwi.
We cleaned up a bit and headed into town at six to make our daily visit to an ATM and then drove down to the river to find the Wharepuke European & Thai restaurant which is nestled in a patch of dense jungle. We sat outdoors as the temperature was perfect and found ourselves surrounded by birds and saw many old friends from earlier today. The restaurant turned out to be really excellent, best meal by far of the trip! We got a very good bottle of Marsden Black Rock Chardonnay 2012 and split a plate of chicken satay. Bob had Bluenose, a lovely slab of fish on mash (mashed potatoes) and I had the green Thai seafood chili. We split a hot Belgian chocolate pot with thick cream which was spectacular, and returned to Birders’ Rest with minutes to spare.
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| Bob's Bluenose |
We grabbed our binoculars and Carol drove us abut 30 minutes to a high hillside overlooking pastureland, and resembling very much Marin County in California. We crossed a stile and began hiking down almost a mile as night fell. At the bottom of the hill there was a stream and the land was somewhat marshier. Suddenly we heard the low croaking call of the female North Island Brown Kiwi, answered soon by the high piercing cry of the male! We climbed though small gates in the fences and scrambled up and down while Carol played her flashlight around in the bushes trying to locate one of the birds. We continued on a ways and suddenly heard surf and found ourselves on a little cove right on the ocean, at the north end of the Bay of Islands! We had no idea we were that close to the sea. The moon was a tiny crescent and the stars were brilliant! We started back and suddenly Carol’s light caught the waddling, bouncing shape of the male Kiwi scurrying around in search of worms, their main food. We saw him again as he cruised up a hill and finally saw the bill: he looked just like the familiar kiwi on the old shoe polish can! They are about 5 lbs, 22” from bill tip to tail end and fairly hefty little birds whose movement is more like a fat ground hog than a bird! Very exciting!
We stumbled back up to car and returned home just before midnight! We’re going to sleep in and have breakfast at nine tomorrow.
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