The experience of seeing a Kiwi in the wild has been described as exciting and calming at the same time.  Enhance your Kapiti Island experience with one of the most extraordinary activities available in New Zealand - night Kiwi spotting. Stay on the Island's eco lodge, Kapiti Nature Lodge, and be hosted by local whanau (family).  Having a guide allows you to open your eyes to something new. Really experience the magnificence of this Island and all that it holds, past and present.  Other activities include Dawn Chorus weekends.

  It's Coast Time

Visitors may see a feathered back end shuffle off into the bush, or a whole lot more. "One ran across my foot once," says Kiwi spotting guide Minnie Clark (Ngäti Raukawa, Te Ati Awa, Ngäti Toa Rangatira). "It was so special."

Minnie is one of the hands-on kaitiaki (guardian) of the Island, and sharing one of its unique experiences - night Kiwi spotting - is something she loves to do.  "I love showing Kiwi in their natural environment," she says. 

Kapiti Island Nature Tours is the commercial enterprise on the Island run by local whanau. Their activities started in 1999.  Visitors can stay overnight at Kapiti Nature Lodge on the north end of the island, and venture out at night to spot a Kiwi or two. The Island has the largest population of little spotted Kiwi (1200) in New Zealand, which means the chance of spotting one is very high.

Minnie's first experience as a guide was learning from the other guides as she held the torch at the back of a group. "The whole experience is really exciting. We're all absolutely still. Then we listen first for their tapping on the ground. Kiwi are not just any old bird. They're shy. They don't stand there and pose and say 'look at me'."

"They forage around and blow the dirt out of their nostrils. And you can hear them calling; it's ear piercing. And when people see one there can be lots of hugging and kissing. It's quite something to share with others. Some visitors write to me for ages after."

On the Department of Conversation website there is a worksheet resource for school children called Exploring the past on Kapiti Island. It asks students to write a sensory poem about what changes might have taken place on the Island to reach the present. It's only through actual experience through the senses, by engaging with somewhere like Kapiti Island, that humans can really understand the impact of human footprints on the future.

Kapiti Nature Lodge is an eco lodge - basic, comfortable, natural. Minnie says some people arrive expecting a limousine and a casino. "But all leave being more aware of the environment. Back home they might think twice before they process their waste and refuse, think recycling, water conservations, or turn a light switch on and off."

It's something we must experience at least once in our lives. It's the birds, the trees, the bush, the escape from the mainland -  it's Te Waewae Kapiti o Tara rāua ko Rangitane - Kapiti Island.

"Even if you can't see the Island because it's covered in cloud," says Minnie. "You notice it's covered in cloud. [It's always present somehow.]"