Kiwi Hunt

Last night found us in search of another you-can-only-do-it-here kind of experience.  Kiwi is the name for fruit and people both in New Zealand, but it all come from the elusive flightless kiwi bird. 

They are nocteral animals, so you don't tend to just run in to them while walking about.  We drove 30 minutes from Frans Josef to the little seaside town of Okarito, and just before dusk, met our guide Paul.  We checked over our gear, and made me leave behind my shotgun (Nikon D-40 with 200mm zoom lens) because in accordance with the agreement the tour company has with the NZ DOC, you are not permitted to shoot the kiwi.

It's just as well.  It was far better to see the kiwi than shoot it.  Our guide took us down a trail and spread us out just 20 meters from a known kiwi burrow.  It was about 30 minutes before sunset when he got us set. 

And then we waited and listened.
and waited and listened some more.

We watied for the Kiwi to come to us.  In our waiting time, we were instructed to listen to the sounds of the forest.  Listening to everything that was not a kiwi, so that when we heard the kiwi move, we would know it for sure.

And sure enough, 15 minutes or so after the sun set, we heard the rustling-thunking of the bird in motion.  This brown Okarito kiwi was not particulaly stealthy.  Once we had a bead on the bird, we huddled together near where we expected the kiwi to come out.

Then with a couple of rustle-thunks, there she was.  Brown and much larger than either of us had imagined the kiwi to be.  The long beak sniffed at us briefly, then poked back down into the ground sniffing for worms and grubs.  In a matter of only a few seconds, it was over, and the hungry bird moved on down the hill.

It was one of those experiences of waiting and preparing and staying alert, all for a few wonderful seconds.  I can certainly see why this bird has captured the imagination of the kiwis (the people now) and why it is proudly the national bird.

We saw one of the only 400 living brown Okarito kiwi alive in the world in the one place on the one Island they inhabit.  What a creation!