Friday 14 January Tiritiri Matanga Island

Whangaroa from Tiritiri

Late yesterday afternoon we had another cracking 2 hour sail out to the island of Tiritiri Matanga which is a unique native bird sanctuary. The small island had been farmed but when the lease expired 40 years ago it went back to the Crown. They left it for 10 years to allow native flora and fauna to re-establish as a protected conservation area. Fast forward to today and it is a thriving sanctuary for some of the most threatened native birds free from non indigenous possums, rats, ants, cats. The Dept of Conservation have established walking trails and viewing places and give daily guided tours.

Tiritiri anchorage

Penguin box

It was a beautiful evening so we went ashore for a look and a walk in the still warm sun. The first thing we saw was a kingfisher sitting on the jetty then kakariki which are the green parakeets, tui birds and a sign to the penguins. The little blue penguin is a cutie. We've seen the occasional one at sea. Here they have built stone burrows for them with glass viewing windows in the top. The glass has a wood lid which you can lift to see inside. The breeding season finished in December but we still found two of the burrows with birds in. We wouldn't complain if we found penguins in the cockpit one morning unlike our reaction to the invading sea lions in Galapagos.