the kaka - unique to New Zealand wildlife

Ecotours New Zealand nature and wildlife tours with expert guides

Brian Parkinson's Guide to Unique Wildlife of New Zealand

South Island of New Zealand - a recommended Itinerary

Seal among the kelp rriving at Wellington take the inter-island ferry to Picton.

From the ferry you can see many smaller pelagic birds such as Cape Pigeons, along with assorted petrels, prions and shearwaters. At Picton take the trip to Moturoa Island which Is the only place that the attractive South Island Saddleback can be seen. From there, weather permitting, this trip continues on to White Rocks where there is a resident colony of the rare King Shag. Dolphins and seals are also regularly seen on this boat trip.

From Picton, take State Highway 1 (SH1) to Kaikoura. The last part of this drive is along some beautiful coastal scenery. Here several colonies of Fur Seals, Red-billed Gulls and assorted shags are easily seen at several points along the coast. At Kaikoura Itself a number of businesses offer ecotourist activities. These include whale, dolphin and seabird watching, along with swimming with seals.

From Kaikoura it Is an easy day's drive down SHI and then SH75 to the township of Akaroa, another township with a number of businesses dedicated to ecotourism. Boat trips around the harbour will enable you to see a number of shore and seabirds. In addition there is a very good chance of seeing our rare endemic dolphin - Hector's Dolphin, and the local endemic penguin. the White-flippered Penguin.

From Akaroa it Is recommended that you rejoin SH1 and continue on to Dunedin and the adjoining Taiaroa Heads. At Taiaroa Heads Is the only mainland breeding colony of albatrosses, that of the Northern Royal Albatross. Also here are the endangered Yellow-eyed Penguins, numerous Stewart Island and Spotted Shags and the New Zealand Fur Seal.Continue south on SH1 and then SH92 to the Catlins, one of our premier wildlife sites. Here one can see superb beech forests, penguins, and often the rare New Zealand Sea Lion which hauls out here.

From the town of Bluff take the daily ferry to Stewart Island. Here there are good bush walks and bush birds are found in numbers unequalled on the mainland, even around the township. Also, this Is one of the few places where you stand a good chance of seeing Kiwi in the wild. Boat trips can be made to see Albatrosses, Mollymawks and other pelagic birds and also these trips allow close approaches to Fur Seal colonies.

From Stewart Island return north via Queenstown and Mt Cook on SH6. SH8 and SH80. In Queenstown. there Is a good kiwihouse at the Kiwi Birdlife Park, in case you didn't see Kiwi on Stewart Island, and this is one of the few places where the world's rarest wader, the Black Stilt is kept. At the town jetty our endemic gull, the Black-billed Gull hangs out and here our sole diving duck the Black Teal can also be seen.

At Mt Cook you should see the Kea, our mischievous mountain parrot and in Spring and Summer superb alpine flowers abound.