2022 Tiritiri Matangi Holiday - Day 1
All our gear waiting for the ferry
Monday the 31st of January.
For this summer holiday we are headed out to Tiritiri Matangi, for a whole five days! Getting ready for this holiday took Julianne and I a whole weekend which really surprised me but there is lots to do and food is a real challenge as there is no shops so we needed to ensure we have enough food for the whole time. I also went out and brought a new chilly bin, and several large white containers to carry everything.
Arriving back on Tiri after 2 years
Just before 8am on this Auckland Anniversary Monday we were on the drive to Gulf Harbour arriving about 40 minutes early which is good as we don’t want to miss the one and only ferry. Once parked it takes several trips to get all our bags and boxes down the wharf ready for the boat to arrive.
Once the ferry arrived, with the help of the friendly staff we got all our stuff aboard and Robin and I were quickly up the top for a windy journey to the island. It has been several years since I have visited Tiri and its a great relaxing feeling seeing the Tiri slowly coming towards us in the distance.
Luke helping push all our gear to the beach
Robin and I were on the top of the boat, and as the tide was low the ramp to the wharf was placed at the middle deck of the ferry, so Robin and I ended up waiting while people slowly got off the ferry, and then I had to dash down to the lower deck and man-handle our heavy boxes up to the middle deck to get them off onto the wharf.
Finally after several trips all our gear was off the ferry and loaded into the DOC ranger ute to be taken up to the bunkhouse for us. We decided to take a scenic walk to start seeing the rare birds on Tiri on our way up to the lighthouse area where the bunkhouse is located.
It was not long before we were seeing saddlebacks, bellbirds, hihi, whiteheads and of course Tui’s and Kererū’s.
It turned out that there are only four other people staying in the bunkhouse which can take 22, so there was heaps of space and once the ferry left we were half the people on the island!
We then unpacked, with Robin doing an amazing job to put things away into the cardboard in our room so things were nice and tidy, then it was lunch up by the lighthouse and then heading down to Hobbs beach for a swim.
Robin is now behind the camera
It’s at least a 30 minute walk and we were enjoying watching the birds again when Robin spotted a young juvenile kokako and it’s parents! We got to witness the grey ghost, the rare and hard to protect kokako along with the next generation. This turned out to be the only Kokako we saw during the five days, but what a great experience, and of course it was Robin who spotted it.
Robin also spotted a kākāriki chick being feed as well. Great start to the endemic birds on the island.
Kākāriki chick being feed by it’s parent
Checking out the penguin boxes, which were full
The lighthouse and bunkhouse
The very rare and endangered takake
Down at the beach, Luke and I went for a swim where the tide was out and there is a low slow gentle increase in water height which is great as this gave Luke plenty of space to practice his swimming lessons which he has only just started. Luke has only just learnt to float with assistance, so he would get ready to float with me supporting him, then when he was ready I would let him go and he would float for about 5 seconds and then I would catch him – he was very proud of himself!, especially as this involved putting his ears under the water. And I really enjoyed playing and teaching him how to float.
Then Luke would then grab my foot and direct me out to sea, and when it got too deep for him he would push me out to sea, and then I would chase him back to shore by swimming underwater – a very enjoyable game for both of us!
Back at the bunkhouse we had the kitchen to ourselves, and Robin had offered to cook dinner for one night during our preparations, so he made us pesto pasta for dinner – he is getting so grown up and helpful.
Robin making dinner
Once it was dark we all grabbed our touches with red lights and headed out to find kiwi’s. It was a long walk in the dark down to Hobbs beach and back, well over an hour and no luck finding kiwi’s but Robin did spot a number of tuatara’s around the beach, and this massive gecko – the biggest gecko I have ever seen, much larger than my hand, and a moorpork as well.
It was then back to the bunkhouse around 10-30pm, a late night for the boys after a long day but we are now on Tiri!