Tiritiri Matangi Island Bird Sanctuary

Even though I’ve lived in Auckland for almost 40 years I’ve never visited any of the off shore islands so when I was invited to check out “Tiri” about 4 weeks ago I jumped at the chance. Brian a friend of mine from Forest & Bird was keen to get back to the island with his camera and wanted to know if I would join him.

The overcast Thursday offered me a great opportunity to escape my workshop and to experience the peace, beauty and tranquility of this magical island retreat situated in the Hauraki Gulf.

The ferry trip from Auckland took about 75 minutes stopping off at Gulf Harbour along the way to pick up more passengers.

Immediately upon stepping on the island I sensed that this special place was going to quickly grow on me. Once the briefing from the DOC ranger was over we promptly set off to explore. In our travels we were also hoping to shoot some memorable photos and video of the bird life and anything else that might be of interest.

As we walked the tracks we were soon to be greeted by various birds but rather than prattle on as I’m sometimes prone I will let the video tell the remainder of our story.

We spent a very enjoyable day on Tiritiri Matangi and hope to return before too long as there is so much more to see. If you’ve never visited “Tiri” and are contemplating doing so I can now highly recommend it as an unforgettable experience.