After a perilous ride across choppy seas mentioned in the previous post, during which I was not sure mom would make it, we landed on Kapiti island. This gorgeous island actually used to be farm land before being made back into a nature sanctuary in 1897. In 1912, 5 of the little spotted kiwi were brought over from the mainland by Richard Henry and since then they have flourished. Significant effort was put in to removing all pests from the island (over 22,000 possums alone were removed) and since 1999 it has been declaimed predictor free. 
We hiked up the mountain looking at birds along the way. By the time we got to one of the bird feeding areas, unfortunately a school group had beaten us there and they were *ahem* misbehaving. After a STERN talking to from mom to one of the incompetent chaperones (we all applauded inside) we finally got to relax and view more birds. We then headed back down and toddled about till the second boat ride to the lodge on a different part of the island.
At the lodge, we were greeted by the lovely Wayne (different Wayne than in mother’s post) a descendant of the original Māori land owners. We relaxed a bit, drank some wine, ate some food, and then at 9pm THE HUNT WAS ON.
The hunt for what you ask? Why the elusive kiwi as the title of the blog suggests!
We began our nature walk by splitting into 2 groups each with our own guide, and then we set out on our nighttime adventure. It was mostly everyone walking in a straight line as quietly as possible while we looked around into the dark underbrush using the beam of her red light flash light. I got some lovely pictures of the night sky, and then we stopped.
We could hear the kiwi rustling around in the underbrush. Every time she shone the light I took a video so we wouldn’t miss it. I had 15 videos of nothing by the end of the night.
We waited 45 min standing still and finally
We saw it!!! Just a flash of her running across the road (way bigger than we thought it would be) but it counts! I only have it in video form (#16) which of course I cannot post here, but we all have copies available upon request and I will attach a screen grab. Additionally, I will be posting it on my instagram. The search completed, we stumbled back to our bunks feeling successful, accomplished, and tired of standing.
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| Remember. Just a screenshot of the video |
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