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New Zealand (1 Viewer)

E

Egretta

Well-known member
Belgium
Hi all,

This year is my last year in university and I was thinking about doing a trip to New Zealand next year before I get a job. Ofcourse it's not 100% sure that I can indeed do such a trip, but I'd like to ask a few questions nevertheless...

1) I would like to go for 2 months, preferably sept-oct or oct-nov, would this be a good period for birding and especially bird photography?
2) I won't have my drivers licence long so probably it isn't such a good idea to rent a car because we don't drive on the left side of the road in Belgium... So how is the public transport in New Zealand (busses and trains)?
3) Could someone recommend me one or two bird books that can't be missed in New Zealand? I saw "Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" but I read somewhere this is out of print?
4) Maybe someone who did a trip like his can give me a rough estimate about how much a 2-month stay could cost? Ofcourse I won't be staying in expensive hotels or go to restaurants and things like that...

This is all for the moment, maybe I'll think of some other questions (about locations and things like that) later...

Thanks in advance, Niels Geelen
 
We went it January/February 2008. I took "The Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" by Hugh Robertson and Barrie Heather. It is very good on breeding seasons and locations for each species.

I think you will struggle without your own transport, outside of the big cities. Not sure about the bus network but I don't recall seeing many trains. Apart from around the Auckland area, the driving seemed very easy. You can go for miles on the South Island without seeing another car.

You could try basing yourself in Auckland for a while and maybe go on organised trips around the Bay of Islands (seabirds and especially Gannets) and to Tiritiri Matangi (which I understand is fabulous but we missed). Miranda on the Firth of Thames is good but make sure you get the tide right for the wading birds.

On the South Island, you would probably love Dunedin, which is a great University city. They ought to do organised trips up to the Otago Peninsula from there. The Royal Albatrosses are in residence all year round and are a must.

You won't come back with a huge bird list but you will have seen a great country and the only one I would want to live in other than the UK. We didn't find it especially expensive but then we had a motor home and didn't use hotels much.

Pat
 
I would say that you need your own car.

For books, go for the Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Light and handy. Also Where to watch Birds in NZ Kathy Ombler. I've seen better books of this kind but its ok and you need it. There's also a new book out by Collins, a Travellers Guide. Birds of NZ Fitter and Merton. Not seen it.

NZ is a country made for the back-packer. So your main cost would be travel, plane and car.

On my short list of places to go would be, Tiritiri Matangi Island, Miranda, Kaikoura, Arthurs Pass, Dunedin for the Royal Albatross and Stewart Island.
 
I don't think you need a car, particularly if you're going for a while, although it would of course be useful. Outside of the cities I don't think driving would be at all difficult, as there's not much traffic and the roads are good.

You might find my trip report from Nov-Dec 2008 useful:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=128143
I didn't have a car and still got to most places and saw most of the birds using various forms of public transport. It did take quite a bit of planning though! Hostelworld is useful for booking cheap accommodation. New Zealand has a lot of options. Camping should be very feasible too.

It's a great country - I'd love to go back.
 
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The first time I went to NZ I hitched around on North Island and found it incredibly easy. even to get off the beaten track. Last time (couple of years ago) we had our own van, but we picked up hitchers, and talked to other people who had been hitching (north and south islands), and they all reported that it was still easy to hitch everywhere. Take a small tent and you should be able to pitch up most places. I wouldn't let not having a car stop you from going.
 
StarainBoy said:
You must go to Tiritiri Matangi,
Click to expand...

...If you like watching birds in a location where they are essentially non-native. I have never been and only intend to go if I am unable to get to Little Barrier for native Stitchbirds. I'm sure TM is a bit of fun but IMO try to see the birds (eg Kokako) in their native locations if at all possible. Others will disagree!

cheers and have a great trip!
alan
 
Non-native (some), yes....but also safe from introduced predators. Kokako is fairly easy on the mainland at Pureora Forest, but for the rest you're just not going to get to see them in a more 'natural' state. TM's a great place and a great success story for NZ's continuing conservation effort
 
birdboybowley said:
Non-native (some), yes....but also safe from introduced predators. Kokako is fairly easy on the mainland at Pureora Forest, but for the rest you're just not going to get to see them in a more 'natural' state. TM's a great place and a great success story for NZ's continuing conservation effort
Click to expand...

I think South Island (!!) Takahe, North Island Saddleback, Stitchbird and LS Kiwi are the only birds that are not generally accessible in their native range.

The LS Kiwis on Kapiti are IMO much better status although unlikely to be native (an old unrecorded intro). A boat inshore to Hen and Chickens might get you the NI Saddleback but few people try, whilst unless you surname is Attenborough your chances of a nice wild SI Takahe are remote indeed.

Several people have told me that TM is a good place for imagining what NZ forests were once like. If that includes Takahes pecking your shoelaces than fair enough! I'm sure it's a nice few days.

cheers, alan
 
Worth hiring a car for a few days to get to some out of the way spots for birding. But for getting to Kaikoura for a pelagic trip or indeed going to Stewart Island you can use public transport. I spent about £2000 in 26 days in South Island last year but that included a couple of internal flights and several days' car hire.

Do some good hikes and try to find some good pelagic trips and you should have a good time. Try not to get too sucked in to all the bungee jumping/heli canyoning whatever which to me looked very expensive and not actually all that exciting.
 
Gotta disagree there Arbu - the 134m Nevis bungee was pretty damn exciting actually!! ;) And for visuals alone, skydiving in NZ is second to none!
 
lewis20126 said:
. A boat inshore to Hen and Chickens might get you the NI Saddleback but few people try, whilst unless you surname is Attenborough your chances of a nice wild SI Takahe are remote indeed.

Several people have told me that TM is a good place for imagining what NZ forests were once like. If that includes Takahes pecking your shoelaces than fair enough! I'm sure it's a nice few days.

cheers, alan
Click to expand...

Do you know if NIS is actually still present on the Hen and Chicks then Alan? I asked Chris Gaskin about this, as it is tantalisingly ambiguous in the field guide. His response was something like : I suppose there may be one or 2 hanging on in there somewhere. This would obviously make them the only 'real' ones, like the Little Barrier Stitchbirds.

Agree it would be wonderful if it's finally deemed safe enough for 'the masses' to see the Fjordland Takahe, but I must admit that I was greatly and unexpectedly moved by the Tiritiri Matangi birds. But then I'm a bit soft.

At least our Yellowheads are real ;)
 
Niels
Cant give you any advice on birding because I'm a real novice what i can say is save up your money and get out to New Zealand however you can. We were there in February/March this year and had a wonderful time. Driving is not a problem just stay out of the big cities (Not many to worry about) not much traffic on the rest of the roads.

Mike
 
birdboybowley said:
Gotta disagree there Arbu - the 134m Nevis bungee was pretty damn exciting actually!! ;) And for visuals alone, skydiving in NZ is second to none!
Click to expand...

OK those probably are quite exciting. But some of the activities I saw on offer were like day walks for $200, or rafting some fairly tame looking rivers. I went walking by myself on the Fox Glacier. Would have been appalled to have paid the $100+ that operators were charging for guided walks there. I suppose if you've never been on a glacier before it feels worth it.
 
Larry Wheatland said:
Do you know if NIS is actually still present on the Hen and Chicks then Alan? I asked Chris Gaskin about this, as it is tantalisingly ambiguous in the field guide. His response was something like : I suppose there may be one or 2 hanging on in there somewhere. This would obviously make them the only 'real' ones, like the Little Barrier Stitchbirds.
Click to expand...

I've always assumed they were still there but perhaps that is wrong. Birdlife say:

"Distribution and population Philesturnus carunculatus was once widespread over the North and South Islands, New Zealand, and some offshore islands, but by the early 1900s, was extinct on the mainland. The North Island subspecies rufusater survived only on Hen Island, and the South Island subspecies carunculatus was reduced to three islets off Stewart Island1,3. Since 1964, rufusater has been introduced successfully to surrounding islands, and its population now numbers over 6,000 birds on 12 islands, with the capacity to increase to over 19,000 birds4. Since 1964, carunculatus has been established on 15 islands4, and the three original "donor" island populations have become extinct. The population has increased to over 1,200 birds, with the capacity to increase to 2,500 birds4. In June 2002, 39 rufusater were released into the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, a 250 ha patch of native forest surrounded by a predator-proof fence on the New Zealand mainland4. Plans are also underway to release carunculatus into the Rotoiti Nature Recovery area, an intensively managed and pest-controlled beech forest in the Nelson district4."

So ambiguous on whether the H&C birds are still there. The only ones I've seen were South Island birds on Ulva Island! I did enjoy the day there, so maybe I would enjoy Tiritiri...

cheers, a
 
Arbu said:
OK those probably are quite exciting. But some of the activities I saw on offer were like day walks for $200, or rafting some fairly tame looking rivers. I went walking by myself on the Fox Glacier. Would have been appalled to have paid the $100+ that operators were charging for guided walks there. I suppose if you've never been on a glacier before it feels worth it.
Click to expand...

We were slightly disappointed in the glaciers. Those in Canada are much bigger and better and we certainly wouldn't have paid for a guided walk.
 
Driving on the other side of the road is not as difficult as you imagine it to be, especially in a place like NZ with little traffic.
 
Thank you all for the advice, it was all very helpful!
Ofcourse I'll have to see how confident I feel on the road next year before I make a decision about wether or not to rent/buy a van, but from all of your replies I think I should be okay either way!
I'll probably get the field guide to the birds of New Zealand and where to watch birds in New Zealand, so thanks to the people who suggested this.
I will probably try to see as much birds as possible on the mainland, but I honestly think I couldn't resist to take a trip to Tiritiri Matangi also, be it just for the Takahe which I really want to see!

If someone has some extra suggestions, I would be very pleased to hear them!

Niels
 
Hello again,

My trip to New Zealand has been postponed by 2 years because of my studies (I study history, but after this year I'm going to take 2 more years of archaeology) so the driving should not be the problem I expected it to be when I last posted in this thread. I think I'll have plenty of experience within 2 years.

I have a few new questions about New Zealand.
Some of you said it would be best to buy a cheap van and then sell it when I leave New Zealand again, but I was wondering how the insurance works if you do this?
Also, I am quite an enthousiastic bird photographer and it would be my primary goal to photograph every endemic bird species in New Zealand. I do not know how long this will take, and along with the possibilty of doing volunteer work, it could well be more than 3 months... I read somewhere that a tourist visum is only acceptable for 3 months, but what if you want to stay longer?

Many thanks, Niels Geelen
 
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