One for the BIRDS

Sharon Stephenson gets into an enjoyable flap on the Kāpiti Coast

If you’d asked me if was a bird nerd, my first instinct would be to say no. I don’t know my saddleback from my silvereye and I want to say bad words about the sparrows that daily mess with my outdoor furniture and my sanity.

And don’t get me started on the bafflingly popular Bird of the Year competition: when friends start discussing whether a bat qualifies as a bird or not, I bite my tongue and wait for the conversation to wear itself out.

So I’m as surprised as anyone to find myself on Kāpiti Island, admiring fat kererū and laughing like a drain at overly friendly kākā who try to steal food from my plate. But then Kāpiti Island will do that to you.

It’s impossible to describe this place without sounding like an over-enthusiastic tour guide: thanks to more than a century of protection – including being entirely pest free for the past 20 years – native birds such as kākā, kiwi, kōkako, takahē and hihi roam happily in the island’s lush, predator-free hills.

Don’t just take my word for it: last year Kāpiti Island was rated one of the world’s 50 best places to visit by the US-based Big 7 Travel website.

I’m ashamed to admit that despite spending large chunks of my life living a 50-minute drive away, and for the past three years even closer, this is the first time I’ve caught the boat across the Kāpiti Marine Reserve to the island.

In the interests of keeping the island pristine, there are a few rules to visiting: stick to the tracks, take your rubbish with you and keep your bags closed because my new best friends, the weka and kākā, will try to get into them.

It’s possible to spend the night on the island, with a maximum of 20 visitors being hosted in rustic baches, cabins and glamping tents. But I’m only here for the day so after a presentation at the Department of Conservation Centre, where our guide shares tales of the island’s history and ecology, we’re free to stroll along the tracks that criss-cross the dense forest.

The Kāpiti Coast begins at Paekākāriki and ends around 35km away at Ōtaki. Towns such as Raumati, Paraparaumu and Waikanae are strung like jewels along the coastline, each with their own character.

Paekākāriki is where you access the Paekākāriki Escarpment Track, a 10km path that stretches across the hills 200m above the Tasman Sea. Part of the national Te Araroa Trail, the track runs from Paekākāriki to Pukerua Bay. On a sunny day you’ll be able to enjoy views across to the South Island in one direction and Mt Taranaki in another.

Most visitors to Ngā Manu Nature Reserve have one thing on their minds – to get as close to kiwi as possible without any pesky glass or barriers getting in the way. This reserve in Waikanae comprises 14ha of swamp forest and wetlands and is home to around 40 species of birds and more than 200 species of native flora. If it hadn’t been for a childhood trauma involving eels (my brothers chasing me around the garden with one) I could have fed the reserve’s endangered longfin eels. Instead, I sign up for the guided bird-feeding tour where my burgeoning love affair with winged creatures gets another boost.

It goes into overdrive later at the kiwi night encounter. Just before 9pm, a group of us file into Ngā Manu’s nocturnal house to watch a pair of brown kiwi shuffle their way around the enclosure, holding our breath so as not to disturb them. They’re cuter than I thought they would be, but surprisingly loud and comically awkward in their movements. I’m beyond impressed at how close we can get.