Tiritiri Matangi Island

Saturday we had plans to visit Tiritiri Matangi Island.  Tiritiri Matangi is an open bird sanctuary. To get to the island you have to take a ferry so we purchased our tickets friday and decided rain or shine we would go. As is typical with Auckland weather, it was raining when we were getting our tickets and getting on the ferry. The kids were super excited to finally go on a boat. They see so many boats along the harbor they are always asking to go on one.

Ellie and me waiting in line. Ellie was business time with her sunglasses on.

all of the kids were serious about their sunglasses.

charlie was so eager to get on that ferry he wanted to wait in the rain.

as we were heading out this incredible rainbow appeared. Rainbows are everywhere here. I don’t remember ever seeing a full rainbow before. Just incredible!

had someone snap a quick family shot under the rainbow. don’t miss seeing charlie in the shadow.

it was pretty rocky on the way to the island and both ellie and I were feeling pretty green. she didn’t actually sleep, but she curled up like this for much of the 75 min trip.

we arrived!

getting instructions. We decided last minute to take a guided walk – so glad we did!

these are little blue penguin nests. you had to strain to see through the glass to get a peek at these little blue penguins. and it stunk when you were trying to look.

so bill just snapped a picture! and you could see them much better! they are little and blue.

our ferry. notice the blue sky. it was really windy on the west coast, but clear and sunny!

if it was warmer – you could swim here.

claire – she can be so easy going sometimes – and saturday she was an easy travel partner.

our guide – Deb and her son, Rama. they were great! if we hadn’t taken the guided tour we would have missed a lot of birds! we saw a lot more than we took pictures of because they move quickly! but listening to their sounds is probably the best part. so many beautiful noises all around you!

A lot of the birds here are endangered or almost extinct and native to NZ. Here is a Kereru bird.

Tui. These birds have 2 voice boxes and can imitate almost any sound.

charlie was starring at a little North Island Robin bird. When he would scratch the ground the bird would come closer to try and see if there were any bugs being kicked up from the ground.

another Kereru. these birds used to eat a certain kind of berry and the berries would take so long to digest in their bellies they would ferment and the birds would get drunk and fall from the trees. I guess the Maori loved that because they were an easy dinner.

Ellie liked finding these little flower pieces on the ground.

silverfern trees.

the under side of the fern is silverish.

you can tell how old this tree is by the wrinkles at the base. I think it should be called “elephant tree” because it looks just like the leg of an elephant.

charlie playing with sticks. he and Rama had lots of stick fun.

this is a tree (two trees that have interwoven actually) that is between 800-1000 years old.

checking out a display bird nest.

Stitchbird – in this area there were stitchbirds and saddlebacks flying around like crazy, but it was hard to capture on camera.

Deb was our guide (all volunteers) and she was great. She is studying young child development right now so we were the perfect family for her to practice on. She loved Charlie and he loved her right back.

see the lighthouse? we finally reached our lunch at about 12:45.

charlie did a lot of walking!

our clan. who knows why charlie decided to bite part of the ergo for this picture.

charlie wanted a picture with Deb & Rama.

ellie running…

ellie falling. her legs were a little sleepy from being in the ergo.

at lunch. it was windy!!!

I cannot even begin to tell you how many rocks they picked up and tried to take home with us. I tried to explain that the rocks were just part of the path – but they would not be stopped. I did remember to empty all pockets before we got back on the ferry though!

ellie trying to assert her independence. she wanted to take her time going up the lighthouse.

ellie was determined to stand on this little post and jump off. she practiced a few times and then nailed it.

and off! so proud she completed it!

bill asked me to look. this was the best I could do.

this little thing…I have no idea what it is. but it was a bird/rodent and ran around more like a mouse than a bird. weird!

charlie was getting tired at this point (we left auckland about 9 and returned back at 5) so I had him piggy back and was trying to keep ellie from launching herself off a cliff.

so vast!

love these kiddos.

double duty. bill had charlie on his back and we needed to keep a move on it to get back to the ferry.

ellie and her stick. she was so proud.

charlie “helping” her with it.

bill told charlie after this photo that he would regret making this face in 12 years. I’m not sure if he will. we will see…

these two keep getting better and better.

brown teal duck – one of the world’s rarest ducks. from looking at it – I would have no clue it was rare.

getting sooo big!

we got down to the wharf and 15 min later a wicked rain storm blew in.

a pukeko ran across the path. whenever I see a pukeko I get a mainly music song in my head “pukeko dances, pukeko sings…stomp to the right…” lucky me!

everyone huddling in because the rain was whipping and pouring!

once on the ferry I thought for sure we would be sick heading back. when the driver initially turned the boat around it was rocking back and forth pretty intensely, but once we started to head back it wasn’t so bad. and after about 15 min on the water it was blue skies again. island living!

with no naps the kids were exhausted by 4 when we were heading back but were so overtired they didn’t sleep and instead were whirling dervishes on the way back. Charlie kept wanting to check in with Deb & Rama and thankfully they were so kind and played with him. He honestly did not want to leave them when we landed. He had a hard time saying good bye. It was so sweet to see! If we ever go back, I will definitely call and see what weekends Deb is on so we can try to meet up with her again. She said when we were leaving that Charlie just touched her heart and she will think of him often in the years to come. I almost welled up with tears. It is at times like these when I realize how much I miss watching other people pour into my kids and watching the kids beam with the special attention. It is such a loving thing people do – pour into your kids and it makes your heart swell. So thank you Deb & Rama for making our trip extra special!