Overnight Experience Tour on Kapiti Island

Kāpiti Nature Tours recently sponsored a trip over to the Island for the Otaki Scholar from Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen Scotland, and two of our Heads of School. Kāpiti Nature Tours have generously sponsored this trip for around 10 years now and every time the students come back off the Island saying that this is one of the most unique and amazing things they have done. If is certainly a highlight for the Scholar who is the 83rd Scholar to visit Aotearoa so it is a significant tradition. Apart from the scenery and bird life they encounter they also rave about the way they are looked after and the food they have while on the overnight stay. A huge thanks to John Barrett and his whanau for sponsoring our students! In closing, from personal experience and the feedback from our students this is a must do on anyone's bucket list!

To stay overnight at Kapiti Island was such a bonus to the experience. The guides, hospitality, hosts, accommodation and meals where welcoming. All aspects of our stay was attended to and meet needs of the group with mobility, and dietary considerations. We loved our stay and would recommend it to anyone. The dawn chorus was well worth being there in the morning.

We were blessed with good weather for this trip which really made it enjoyable. The morning walk in particular was delightful, a climb through the trees with the song of Bell-birds and Tui a constant chorus and Toutouwai (North Island Robin) who, we were told, like to follow us as they look where human footprints have turned the earth to find food. They are fairly comfortable around humans and a delightful bird to watch. Both at our first base in the middle of the island and our overnight base in the north we could also see Takahē, the bird re-discovered after having been considered extinct. Even now there are less than 400 in the world, yet we saw them grazing, seemingly oblivious to our presence. During the afternoon and even into the following day you gradually get to know the rest of the group on your tour and it becomes quite social. In general the fact that you have all chosen this trip means you will have things in common which helps you then explore your different backgrounds. The lodge at which you stay (we slept in an excellent glamping tent) has plenty of space to relax, sit down with a cup of tea or other drink and just savour the place, for example watching the Bell-birds and Tui come to drink and wash themselves in a well-placed fixture. The trip advertises itself as family-owned and in this case its not just a marketing ploy and comes across in the way you're treated (and end up treating others as well). We found everybody to be genuinely friendly and helpful. The best aspect of all was the home-cooked food which was REALLY appreciated. Our night safari proved to be fruitless in the main objective of seeing a kiwi, but sightings do happen. You'd be surprised how excited you can get seeing a Weka in this situation! This was indeed a happy trip.

We loved every minute of our stay on Kapiti Island! From the moment you arrive you are well looked after. The hosts make you feel incredibly welcome and do a fab job of passing on their knowledge of the island, it's history and all the bird life. Food was great too! It made for an amazing school holidays get away for our whānau.

This was a wonderful experience. We were lucky with fine weather and walked to the lookout via the Trigg track. At the top the views of the Kapiti coast and the South Island were beautiful. The bird song on the journey up were lovely, we heard and saw tieke, robins, bellbirds, tui. The walk down the Wilkinson track was easier and enjoyed seeing hihi at the feeder. One of the highlights was seeing 2 takahe near the wetlands, The bush is very lush and full of nikau, ferns and big trees. We were transported to the north end by boat where we wer greeted by Mananaki who showed us to our cabin. After an enjoyable snacks, drinks and dinner we were led on a walk and spotted a pukapuka kiwi. After a good sleep lulled by penguins and rurus we walked all of the tracks up to a lookout and around the boulder bank. This is an outstanding place to visit. We feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to visit.

A great experience thoroughly enjoyed by all, especially my 5 year old grandson. It isn't cheap, but you can see where the money goes and it's all justified. The hospitality is first class and the food and drink is plentiful and high quality. It's a unique place and should be on your must visit list....

Loved the entire experience. The guides, the bird life and the whanau were all amazing. We have always wanted to visit Kapiti island and weren’t disappointed. The walk to the top took 1.5 hours at a steady pace and was manageable. Tikaha the guide gave us an interesting brief about the island, birdlife and history . You can swim and take goggles if you want to see the marine life. We had perfect weather- calm and sunny and did manage to see the back end of a kiwi on the night walk. The cabins were comfy and the food plentiful and delicious. We also completed the Lookout walk and then walked around the coast back to the lodge- all worth doing. We felt lucky to have had this wonderful experience and would highly recommend it. We literally saw so many of NZ’s birds!

We were very lucky to have perfect weather for the whole 2 days. We saw several Kokakos which was my highlight. The accommodation was lovely and the food divine. I also loved hearing the history of the island. We made the most of all the walks then stayed in paraparaumu for the night after we got back to the mainland. We did the escarpment walk from paekakariki the following day which was scary but amazing. All in all a great weekend with wonderful hosts! :)

Kapiti Island is such a beautiful, peaceful and rejuvenating place. I would highly recommend the overnight experience to relax, unwind and connect with nature.

We had a wonderful overnight experience and so pleased we decided to do this. We were in a Glamping Tent. I think it was the best one as it had a clear view across the valley. The stars were wonderful at night. Although, there were toilets in the main building, I thought our nearby composting toilet was super cute. Kapiti Island was a large rock I saw from the car or train when I was travelling north as a child with my family and as a tertiary level student. It was not a nature reserve then. What a wonderful achievement ... removing the pests, and the natural vegetation and native birds being re established. Beautiful bush and lovely beaches. I have lived in Australia for 40 years and I really enjoyed hearing the Maori language spoken by our Maori guides and staff. It was interesting hearing about the history of the island and they clearly have a great respect for their culture and family/tribe background. I am a keen bird photographer and I enjoyed wandering around the grounds taking photos. A warning that some of the walks are very strenuous. Getting to the Hihi feeder was beyond my knees and I should have stuck to the easier walks which were explained to us. I highly recommend Kapiti Island Nature Tours and the overnight stay.