Stewart Island Wild Kiwi Encounter | La Vacanza Travel

Stewart Island Wild Kiwi Encounter

Duration: 5 hours
Destination: New Zealand, Southland, Stewart Island
from
171.8

Check Availability

  • 5 hours
  • Stewart Island
  • E-Voucher
  • Lowest Price
  • Not-Cancellable

Overview

The walk, led by your nature guide, is on a well-formed track across the peninsula, through spectacular coastal forest to a secluded sandy beach.

As dusk sets in and daylight diminishes, venture by torchlight through the native forest with the stars and forest night sounds around you. The walk will take about 45 minutes one-way and the track emerges on to Ocean Beach. This wide sandy beach is where kiwi are often found feeding among the grasses and seaweed.

Here in the darkness you may spot the Southern brown kiwi (Rakiura Tokoeka) - often searching for food.

Afterwards retrace your steps through the forest to Little Glory Wharf for your catamaran ride back to Oban township on Stewart Island.

Please be sure to dress weather appropriate and bring insect repellant.
You must arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled departure to check in.

What Can You Expect?

At dusk depart from Stewart Island's Halfmoon Bay in our catamaran for a cruise across Paterson Inlet to Little Glory Cove. During the cruise pass Ulva Island (a predator-free sanctuary) and learn about Stewart Island's rich history. Once at Little Glory Cove, disembark onto a wharf at the southern part of the peninsula known as The Neck.
The walk, led by your nature guide, is on a well-formed track across the peninsula, through spectacular coastal forest to a secluded sandy beach.

As dusk sets in and daylight diminishes, venture by torchlight through the native forest with the stars and forest night sounds around you. The walk will take about 45 minutes one-way and the track emerges on to Ocean Beach. This wide sandy beach is where kiwi are often found feeding among the grasses and seaweed.

Here in the darkness you will get to see the Southern brown kiwi (Rakiura Tokoeka) - often searching for food.
Afterwards retrace your steps through the forest to Little Glory Wharf for your catamaran ride back to Oban township on Stewart Island

Inclusions & Exclusions

Inclusions
  • Coffee and/or Tea - Complimentary tea and coffee on board return scenic cruise

Exclusions

    Additional Info

    • Not wheelchair accessible
    • Not recommended for pregnant travelers
    • No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
    • Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
    • Not suitable for children under 16 years
    • A reasonable level of fitness is required
    • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
    • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
    • Confirmation will be received at time of booking

    Departure Point

    Departure Point

    Visitor Terminal - Stewart Island Experience, Southland 9818, New Zealand


    Return Details

    Returns to original departure point

    Duration & Voucher Info

    Voucher info

    You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.

    Duration

    5 hours

    Cancellation Policy

    User's Reviews

    ShayKotzi

    17 Apr, 2024

    Absolutely amazing experience. Boat tour was engaging and entertaining! Sea lions came right up to the boat, thanks to the frantic clapping and whistling from our incredibly dedicated and enthusiastic guide. Our guide, Karen, made the experience unforgettable with their infectious enthusiasm and knowledgeable commentary. Karen knew exactly where to look and how to walk quietly through the woods to not scare the kiwi. WE SAW 6! Cannot recommend this experience enough, RealNZ did an incredible job!

    AndyJewson

    13 Mar, 2024

    Fantastic trip, starts with a boat ride out to see albatross, seals, mutton birds, sea lions etc Then some introduction to Kiwis and a Kiwi walk through Bush to a beach. Our two guides were wonderful, so enthusiastic and in the end just as excited to see kiwis as the guests. Had 4 sitings, 3 on the beach which lasted over an hour. Highpoint was when we witnessed a male meet a female and watched them put their beaks to the sky and call to each other, spine tingling stuff.

    Thomas_M

    08 Mar, 2024

    Kiwi are naturally very scared of vibrations, noises, and lights, so we were very surprised that they sent us out to hunt kiwi in large groups of 11 each with flashlights without red light filters (which are less offensive to kiwi). We walked around for hours and didn't see any kiwi, probably because there was always someone in the group stumbling or brushing loudly against a tree. The guides were also using bright, non-red flashlights to look for/scare away the kiwi. At this price, the groups should be WAY smaller, probably 4 or 5 at most, to have a realistic chance of seeing kiwi. We saw cool penguins and sea lions on the way, but that's not what we traveled to Stewart Island or booked this tour for. They also only brought about half as many binoculars as there were guests, which was disappointing. I would not recommend this tour, just go look for kiwi on your own with red light filters on your flashlights. We found 2 on our own the next night!

    Kelsofly

    02 Mar, 2024

    Cannot recommend this tour enough! This was our second RealNZ tour of the day, and while we may have felt tired before setting out, this quickly dissipated with the excitement of the journey. We stopped in several incredible spots en route to the ultimate destination, observing penguins (hoiho/yellow-eyed and tawaki/Friodland crested), seals and albatross, among other native species. Once night fell, the kiwi tour was an absolute dream. We crept through the impressive forests, listening for the signs of Stewart Island tokoeka. Our guide, Karen, who we were lucky enough to have for the second time that day, truly went above and beyond. She made sure we had the best possible experience, and between the two groups, we ended up seeing three tokoeka. Pure magic. Even with wet weather threatening to roll in, this couldn't possibly put a damper on our experience. Our captain Matt was fabulous as well, starting our return trip in the dark with the Titanic theme song, just perfect. Hot chocolate on board was the night cap we needed. Thank you RealNZ, and Karen in particular, for an adventure we'll always remember.

    907JLeMay

    29 Feb, 2024

    This adventure was exciting! We took a scenic boat ride over to Tribal land and hiked through the woods at night from 10 pm to 12 am. We were fortunate and saw a couple kiwis. One was unfazed and spent about 20 minutes with us.

    User's Picture Gallery

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    Albatross, mutton birds and kiwis galore

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    Kiwi Excitement

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    Kiwi hunt

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    So much more than a Kiwi Encounter

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    Must Do

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    A NZ Nature must do.

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    Grouse.

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    The best kiwi spotting experience

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    Experiencing Kiwi

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    Great Trip to Do

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    Great Kiwi encounter

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