Our New Zealand birding tour begins today. We will meet after lunch, for a gentle introduction to New Zealand birding around Whangarei. We will visit Vinegar Lake to look for waterbirds such as New Zealand Grebe, Australasian Grebe, Australasian Shoveler, Grey Teal and Paradise Shelduck, and then Old Mill Wetland to look for Buff-banded Rail, Australasian Bittern and New Zealand Fernbird. Dinner and night in Whangarei.

Today we’ll embark on a full-day pelagic birding adventure in the outer Hauraki Gulf. Departing from Marsden Cove, we’ll head northeast past the Hen and Chickens Islands to the deep waters of the gulf—an area known for its rich marine life and exciting seabird diversity.

As we cruise these productive offshore waters, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for an exciting mix of seabirds. Highlights may include New Zealand Storm-Petrel, Buller’s Shearwater, and Flesh-footed Shearwater, along with possible sightings of Cook’s and Pycroft’s Petrels, White-faced Storm-Petrel, Fluttering Shearwater, and Fairy Prion. There’s always the chance of spotting something unexpected, and the presence of feeding flocks often draws in dolphins or even a passing whale.

The trip lasts approximately 7.5 hours, returning in the late afternoon. If a full-day pelagic is not of interest, you can do some walking and exploring of Whangarei. Lunch on your own if you are not on the pelagic. Note that there is no discount if you do not participate in the pelagic.

Night in Whangarei.

Toward we will work our way south towards Warkworth. On the way, we will stop at Waipu Wildlife Refuge and Mangawhai Heads to look for New Zealand’s rarest bird, the Australian Fairy Tern, of which only 45 individuals remain, along with other species such as Buff-banded Rail and various shorebirds.

We will visit Tawharanui Regional Park on the journey south to look for Takahe, North Island Saddleback, Brown Teal and Whitehead.

After dinner we will be making a special night excursion to the Tāwharanui Regional Park for our first chance to see a kiwi! North Island Brown Kiwi are our target for this evening outing.

Night in Night in Whangarei.

Today we take the boat ride to Tiri Tiri Matangi Island—one of the greatest bird conservation success stories in New Zealand. What was once an overgrazed islet supporting little birdlife, is now a predator-free sanctuary covered in native plants, all supporting a vibrant bird community including some of the countries rarest endemics like Stitchbird, North Island Kokako, and the iconic Takahe (giant flightless swamphen), as well as North Island Saddleback and Red-crowned Parakeet. We will take a guided tour on Tiritiri Matangi and will enjoy a picnic lunch there.

There is an option to explore Shakespear Regional Park once back on the mainland, before heading back north towards Warkworth. Dinner and night in Warkworth, with an option to return to look for North Island Brown Kiwi in Tawharanui again if needed.

Make the journey south to the amazing spectacle of waders at Miranda/Pukorokoro Shorebird Centre. Our day will be partially organized around the high tide here. The coastal mudflats and saltmarsh of Miranda (NZ’s most famous shorebird hot spot) support Bar-tailed Godwits (who fly non-stop from Alaska—11,000+km—to winter here!), Red Knot, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Wrybill, Red-breasted Dotterel, Buff-Banded Rail, Pied Oystercatcher, and White-fronted Tern. If we’re lucky, there might be a few other Siberian waders, such as Marsh Sandpiper or Greater Sand Plover.

We will then head to Piako Wader Roost, which often hosts rare waterbirds among good numbers of Royal Spoonbill, Paradise Shelduck and Grey Teal.

We will continue south to Turangi for dinner and the night.

We will spend the morning birding around Turangi. We will visit Turangi Bridge to look for Blue Ducks (or “Whio”)—a highly specialized endemic of NZ’s mountain rivers, followed by Tokaanu Historic Wharf to look for Australasian Bitterns and Spotless Crakes.

Late morning, we will drive (2.5hrs) to Upokongaro for a late lunch. There is a lovely cafe there where you can see New Zealand’s only Nankeen Night Herons roosting above the tables in the garden. Night in Whanganui.

We will begin our day with a visit to Bushy Park Sanctuary near Whanganui, with a good chance of finding Stitchbird, North Island Saddleback and more. We will then journey south towards Foxton Beach and Manawatu Estuary to look for waders and other waterbirds.

Continuing south towards Wellington, we will visit various forests and wetlands on the way to look for birds like Black-fronted Dotterel, Spotless Crake and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.

After dinner will will go on the Zealandia night tour to look for Little Spotted Kiwi and Tuatara. Night in Wellington.

This morning we will bird at Zealandia, a wonderful bird reserve near the centre of Wellington. Target birds will include Takahe, North Island Saddleback, Stitchbird, Kaka and Red-crowned Parakeet.

After lunch, we may visit Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum, which has an incredible array of natural history exhibits, or visit Plimmerton to find rare Terns and Jaegers, or other wetlands near the city in search of Crakes and other waterbirds. Night in Wellington

After some morning birding, we will catch a mid-morning ferry across the Cook Straight to Picton. Birding on the ferry is excellent, with a number of Albatross, Petrel and Shearwater species possible, as well as dolphins.

We will arrive in Picton in the early afternoon. After checking into the hotel, we will do some local birding - possibly at some wetlands around Blenheim, looking at Glossy Ibis and Royal Spoonbill breeding colonies, and looking for other birds like Cirl Bunting and Black-fronted Dotterel. Night in Picton.

We take a morning sealife cruise through the magnificent Marlborough Sounds, where we will hope to find New Zealand King Shag, a striking bird endemic to this part of New Zealand, along with various other seabirds and cetaceans, possibly including the world’s smallest Dolphin - the Hector’s Dolphin.

We’ll stop at Blumine Island and look for the extremely rare Malherbe’s Parakeet, of which fewer than 300 remain in the wild, along with Yellow-crowned Parakeet, South Island Saddleback and South Island Robin, while enjoying the curious and confident Weka on the beach.

We will return to Picton for lunch and then drive south towards Kaikoura. We will stop at Lake Elterwater on the way to enjoy abundant waterbirds and to look for Hoary-headed Grebe.

After dinner we will look for Little Owls around Kaikoura. Night in Kaikoura.

We will enjoy one of the world’s greatest pelagic tours, the Kaikoura Albatross Encounter. You can expect to see a variety of seabirds at close-quarters today including the massive Gibson's (Wandering) Albatross, with a wingspan of 3.5m! Other species include, White-capped, Salvin’s, Black-browed and Royal Albatrosses, Northern Giant Petrel and Pintado Petrels, and the Hutton’s Shearwater, which breeds only in the mountains behind the town here.

We will return to Kaikoura for lunch and then spend a relaxed afternoon visiting Fyffe Palmer Reserve to look for native songbirds, or Point Kean Seal Colony and Kaikoura Peninsula. Night in Kaikoura.

We leave Kaikoura, and head south, stopping at Ashley Estuary to look for Black Stilt and Black-fronted Tern, along with other shorebirds. We will visit Travis Wetland in Christchurch to see abundant waterbirds, hopefully including New Zealand’s only Cape Barren Geese.

We then head inland continuing to Arthur’s Pass. We will bird around Arthur’s Pass village to look for forest birds such as South Island Robin, Pipipi and Rifleman, and possibly South Island Wren. We will also get the chance to see the cheeky Keas stirring up mischief. Night in or near Arthur's Pass National Park.

This morning we will bird in the nearby area and drive to Hokitika for lunch and then continue on our way to Franz Josef for the night.

There is an optional evening outing to Okarito to try to find the rarest of the kiwis, the Okarito Brown Kiwi (Rowi). Night in Franz Josef Glacier.

We will have a slower start to the day, after our Kiwi-watching the night before. Today we will bird around Okarito, exploring the beautiful forests of the West Coast. We will visit the lagoon at Okarito, where we should find some Great Egrets, which are rare in New Zealand. This is also a great area to look for Long-tailed Koel. Night in Franz Josef Glacier.

We travel today from Josef to Queenstown through stunning forest and mountain habitats. We will break up the drive with stops along the way including a stop at Monro Beach to look for Fiordland Penguins. We will carry on to Haast for lunch. In the afternoon, we may take a short walk Mt Aspiring National Park, looking for native forest birds such as Rifleman and Yellowhead. Night in Queenstown.

We will drive from Queenstown to Bluff where we will catch an early afternoon ferry to Stewart Island. This Ferry ride is a great opportunity to view large numbers of seabirds including large numbers of Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters. Upon arrival, the rich native plant and bird life should be evident even around our accommodation in Oban—especially the raucous and inquisitive Kaka (parrot) whose silvery-white crown and flashy pink underparts make it an instant fan-favourite among visitors to Stewart Island. We will check into our accommodation after our arrival.

In the evening, we will take a boat trip to look for Yellow-eyed, Fiordland and Little Penguins, Brown Skua and more. We will also explore a remote beach to look for Southern Brown Kiwis (largest of the kiwis). This is always a wonderful and memorable experience. Night in Oban/Halfmoon Bay.

This morning we will take a half-day pelagic cruise to the east of Stewart Island. This area provides a wonderful feeding ground for a variety of pelagic birds including several species of Albatross, Petrel, Diving-Petrels and Prions. We will also be on the lookout for the much sought after Fiordland Penguin.

In the afternoon, we will take a water taxi to Ulva Island, the predator-free island with numerous endemic birds including Yellowhead, Pipipi, South Island Robin, South Island Saddleback, Red-crowned and Yellow-crowned Parakeet, Rifleman and Kaka. Night in Oban/Halfmoon Bay.

This morning we take the ferry back to Bluff, and travel the scenic southern route through the Catlins region—famous for its lush beech forests, hidden waterfalls, and wild Pacific coastline. If the tides work well, we will stop at Awarua Estuary to look for waders. Night in Dunedin.

Today we travel along the scenic Otago Peninsula to visit the Taiaroa Head—the site of the World’s one and only mainland albatross colony! The Northern Royal Albatross is the second largest albatross in the world, boasting a wingspan of 3 meters! As we watch the colony we should also get great looks at both Stewart Island and Spotted Shags (endemic cormorants). We will then continue to Oamaru for the next 2 nights.

This morning we will visit Bushy Beach to look for Yellow-eyed Penguins and additional sealife. We will also visit the enormous Otago and Spotted Shag colonies, and have time to enjoy the unique town of Oamaru.

In the evening, we will take a tour to view over 200 Little Penguins come ashore, while Jaegers and Albatrosses fly offshore. Night in Oamaru.

Today we will head north towards Christchurch from Oamaru. There are a number of great locations to visit and it may depend on what has been seen so far on the tour. We may stop to look for Spotless and Baillon’s Crake, or depending on conditions we may look for Wrybills and Bar-tailed Godwits. Other options include looking for Australasian Bitterns and Australian Fariy Terns.
We will spend our final night in Christchurch reminiscing about our favourite highlights of the tour. Night in Christchurch.

Our incredible New Zealand birding tour draws to a close and we head home after such an amazing experience. You can depart for the airport and connecting flights home anytime.