Tiritiri is an island sanctuary in the Hauraki Gulf, just a short ferry ride from Auckland.
Its an open sanctuary, meaning its open to the public, but they take care to keep it pest-free.
There are some amazing native animals here, as soon as we stepped of the ferry we were seeing birds that we never saw anywhere else in the country, like Saddlebacks and Stitchbirds.
The island is small, it takes about 1.5 hours to walk a complete loop around the entire perimeter. Its full of trails and bush walks.
They have some extremely rare and endangered birds, like the Kokako- a big grey-blue bird that doesn't really fly, but runs along branches and hops between trees.
Also rare is the Takahe. They are easy to spot since they're the size of a chicken and like to graze on the grass by the lighthouse.
The Takahe are a species hanging by a thread. They were thought to be extinct, but a small population of around 250 birds was discovered in 1948 in Fiordland. The total population is now only 200. On Tiritiri they have 4 pairs and some young chicks, so its good to see they are hanging on.
It was an easy 20 min ferry to the island, and they have a bunkhouse so we stayed the night. It was a very cool little trip, probably our last expedition in the country, since its time to focus on selling our van and getting ready to leave!
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