jenckes
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South Island ▷ West Coast ▷ Okarito ▷
Okarito Kiwi Tours
My wife and I took Ian's tour on an overcast Friday evening September 23rd.
Two Russians, two English, and two Americans (us). Ian Cooper is a New Zealand treasure. He built us as a team, coordinated the walk (quite easy), and with directed zeal, attuned us to sounds and characteristics of a pair of Rowi Kiwis. We heard them snuffle for a couple of hours, and then magically they appeared, not 5 feet from one end of the group (the male), and the larger female just 8-10 feet away across a small path. Seemingly not bothered by the red light shining on them, we watched with adrenalin pumping for about 5 minutes. We walked right past the male, seemingly not at all frightened, to make our exit. All in all a marvelous evening. Lesson learned? No two Kiwis are alike, they make quite some noise in their journies in the bush, and getting to be a part of Ian's "team" is an experience not to miss in New Zealand.
100th Review ! Thanks for that.
This for me was a real 'old fashioned' trip. It was great to know Fancy was in the bush, then, to my delight he was joined by Joeline. ( when 2 kiwi meet up, they often start to snuffle together, letting me know there are 2 birds together )
The snuffling continued for 1 hour and 20 minutes. With great patience the group waited with anticipation.
I was quite confident they would make an appearance on the track, but, I was torn between 2 places.
In the end, the female came out first, at one of the places I thought and the male came out at the other spot !
We then tip-toed past Fancy, letting him continue his nightly forage un-interupted.
Another great trip, another great team, another great night ! What a job !
Ian
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Milford Sound - Fiordland National Park ▷
Milford Sound Day Cruises
Yes Milford Sound is beautiful.
Waterfalls galore, tree avelanches, and many birds. The real fun part of our trip was the impressive avalanche just above the bus after exiting the Homer tunnel. This ended many yards aboe us, but did get the heart rate up...even of the driver. However, we felt that the boat ride was very short for the quite long bus ride. Doubtful sound was much more extensive, and offered more variety of flora and fauna than Milford. However, I'd vote for the bus, not driving to Milford.
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Doubtful Sound ▷
Doubtful Sound Day Cruise
This is a journey Real Journeys does well.
A package tour here is ideal way to see Lake Manapouri, a quite astounding pass over to Doubtful sound, and on our day in September, an almost cloudless sky and calm waters of Doubtful Sound, with boat to view bottlenose dolphins (very large), great waterfalls, and out to the seals on the Tasman coast. The power plant is a "not to be missed" part, and even though a small portion of the excursion, a tribute to consensus and engineering for New Zealand.
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South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Dunedin ▷
Elm Wildlife Tours
Booked a tour with Elm over a year in advance.
Was left waiting without communication at iCenter downtown Dunedin. These are irresponsible people running the tours, which took off 1 1/2 hours prior to the time on our confirmation. Never even made an effort to email or phone. They have a great product to view, but with this kind of irresponsiblity, surely someone will provide competent tours and thus end their behavior.
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South Island ▷ Stewart Island ▷ Halfmoon Bay ▷
Ulva's Guided Walks
Ulva is not a well kept secret.
We walked with Peter Taite, a virtual encyclopedia of flora and fauna knowledge and a true love for Stewart Island and its Ulva Island. Personally led by him, my wife and I saw early season ordchids, heard saddlebacks, played with Stewart Island robins (they like freshly disturbed soil), and were given lessons on Ulva's trees, ferns, and of course birds. We didn't see Kiwis, but saw evidence of tracks and holes dug by them going after food. Peter took time to explain Ulva's history, both from a geological as well as from a social-political point of view. We'll go back and hopefully see and learn more. We'll only ask Peter for a tour, given his long history on Stewart Island, his veracity, and kindness.