Kapiti Coast Kiwi Experience

The Kapiti Coast area has made appearances in television and film. Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings and King Kong fame) is from Pukerua Bay and went to high school at Kapiti College in Raumati Beach. Scenes from both of the aforementioned movies have been filmed on the Kapiti Coast.

Your tour will first take you alongside beautiful Wellington Harbor, past the Pauatahanui inlet, and stopping at the famous Battle Hill Farm Forest Park (site of the last Maori conflict in New Zealand). Battle Hill Farm Forest Park blends traditional hill country farming, forestry and environmental restoration. With its farm setting, native bush reserve and panoramic views, Battle Hill provides a great opportunity to enjoy the open spaces of rural Wellington.

You will then continue your journey to Paekakariki Hill stopping at the summit to view peaks of the South Island Mountains, and the Kapiti Island Nature Reserve. Kapiti is one of New Zealand's most valuable nature reserves, and it is the only large island sanctuary for birds between the Hauraki Gulf in the north and New Zealand's southern outlying islands. Most people never get an opportunity to visit nature reserves because access to them is so difficult. Kapiti is one of a few relatively accessible island nature reserves. It provides an opportunity for people to observe birds that are either very rare or absent from the mainland, and to see the recovery of vegetation after intensive modification during last century.

Then it's on to Camp Russell, site of WWII U.S. Marines from 1942 to 1943. The tour continues to Ruth Prettys, one of New Zealand's foremost master chef's for some light refreshments.

Travel from here to Otaki stopping at Ragiatea Historic Church, and then enjoy your very own personal feeding experience of New Zealand's protected flightless kiwi bird at the Nga Manu Wildlife Sanctuary and Nature Reserve. By visiting the Reserve you will gain an understanding of the ecosystems by using examples of plants and animals that can be observed within the different habitats that make up the Reserves ecosystems.

You will then stop for lunch at a beach café before continuing to the Southward Vintage Car Museum, where you will see rarities including Marlene Dietrich's Cadillac, and a Chicago gangster's armor-plated limo.

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