Auckland, New Zealand

Posted on by alison

When we were in Auckland we visited the island of Tiritiri Matangi. Tiritiri Matangi Island is located in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, 3.4 km east of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula in the North Island and 30 km north east of Auckland. It is a sanctuary and scientific reserve for native and endangered birds.   Check out the pictures in Chapter 62 of my blog to see for yourself how much we enjoyed visiting and learning on this island. In an effort to keep the sanctuary around for many years to come I feel like it is worth donating to. 

Official Website:

www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz

Donate:

https://portal.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/SoTM/Fundraising/Donate.aspx

Here are a couple of the non-birds we saw:

One of the first animals that our guide pointed out was the Tuatara. They are so special because they are the only remaining species of an entire reptile order that diverged from snakes and lizards roughly 250 million years ago. Other members of this order went extinct around 60 million years ago.
Wētāpunga are massive, nocturnal, arboreal insects primarily native to New Zealand’s Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island, with recent reintroductions to Tiritiri Matangi and Motuora Islands.