Tiritiri Matangi Island

27/08/2026

A moment to remember ..
'Thursday and a fine, cool day on Tiritiri Matangi, warmed by a sun that hinted at the turning of the seasons.
Along the road, kōwhai arched overhead, their branches heavy with golden flowers. Petals were beginning to fall, carpeting the ground beneath them in yellow, while the trees themselves buzzed with activity.
But out over Tīkapa Moana/ the Hauraki Gulf, cool, damp winds carried a sea fog towards the island. Soon, wisps of mist were drifting through the flower-filled branches, softening the light.
Among the kōwhai, tūī feasted on the bounty of nectar, chasing one another through the branches and loudly displaying their indignation when kererū arrived to share in the feast.
For a moment, the road became a golden corridor of spring, flower petals underfoot, mist in the branches, and tūī calling and squabbling overhead.'
Could you think of a better way to spend a late Winter's afternoon?
Father's Day is coming so why not visit Tiritiri Matangi with him and find a moment like this yourself?
You can book your ferry ticket to Tiritiri Matangi and perhaps a guided walk here:
https://www.exploregroup.co.nz/.../tiritiri-matangi-island/
Video credit: Jonathan Mower

21/08/2026

Witnessing the Cycles of Life.
At the heart of Tiritiri Matangi’s education programme is an invitation to look closer, ask questions and discover the living connections that make this island so special.
The island offers both students and visitors no shortage of beautiful scenes. Native species thrive among the island’s maturing forests, white-capped waves stretch across the Hauraki Gulf, and Aotearoa/New Zealand’s oldest continuously operational lighthouse stands watch over it all. Yet the island also reveals another side of nature: the cycles of life that can be fascinating, surprising and sometimes confronting.
For students, these moments can leave a lasting impression.
During a recent visit by Year 10 students from Baradene College, students observed and recorded a tīeke/North Island saddleback preying on a wētāpunga. The encounter brought together two native species, both once rare on mainland Aotearoa, in a very real and very natural interaction.
The students’ excitement is clearly audible as they watch the encounter, but this was more than simply an exciting wildlife sighting; it was a glimpse into the complex relationships that make a healthy ecosystem work.
The education programme at Tiritiri Matangi is a vital part of the Tiritiri Matangi Project, with the island offering a rare opportunity to see ecological networks in action. Here, the relationships between species that once thrived on mainland Aotearoa/ New Zealand are not simply ideas in a textbook; they can be observed, experienced and questioned.
By encouraging students to discover these connections for themselves, Tiritiri Matangi’s education programme can transform a single encounter, such as watching a tīeke catch a wētāpunga, into an understanding of the interconnected cycles of life that sustain the island.
Tiritiri Matangi's education programs are made possible thanks to the generous support of Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust. If you, too, would like to invest in future leaders and help grow conservation-minded citizens, please consider supporting the island's 'Growing Minds' programme.

Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu - Adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly

Video Credit: Baradene College

14/08/2026

Like ripples on a pond, the story of Tiritiri Matangi Island restoration have spread far and wide.
Here the story is being reported in The Times of India.

Off the coast of Auckland, in New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf, lies an island that looks like a slice of untouched wilderness. Dense native forest blankets its hills, rare birds call from the canopy and visitors walk along quiet tracks surrounded by ferns and flowering shrubs.

13/08/2026

Winged fishes.
Whai keo, the eagle ray (Myliobatis tenuicaudatus), is part of a group of cartilaginous fish* called batoids (or batomorphs), that have existed for around 200 million years. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, this remarkable group includes around 25 species of rays, alongside skates and their relatives.
From eagle rays and stingrays to skates and electric rays, these extraordinary animals are part of an ancient ocean lineage that has persisted since the age of the dinosaurs. So when a whai keo glides through the waters around Tiritiri Matangi, we’re watching a living piece of an ocean story that stretches back hundreds of millions of years.
Both eagle rays and stingrays are regularly seen around the wharf and beaches of Tiritiri Matangi. If you are lucky enough to spot them while snorkelling, care should be taken, as both types of ray have venomous, barbed spines on their tails. Admire these beautiful animals from a respectful distance, and take care not to approach or accidentally step on them.
To book your tickets to Tiritiri Matangi and perhaps a guided walk, head to https://www.exploregroup.co.nz/.../tiritiri-matangi-island/
Photo credit: Jonathan Mower
*meaning they have a boneless skeleton made of a tough, elastic cartilage.

12/08/2026

09/08/2026

Te Tau o te Kōwhai/ The season of the kōwhai
Balancing on a branch that seemed too thin to support the weight, a kererū delicately plucks flower buds from a trackside kōwhai. The flowering of the island’s kōwhai is one of the most significant and colour-filled events in its botanical calendar and a time of plenty for the plant feeding birds and invertebrates.
Though kererū consume large quantities of these flower buds, they account for only a tiny fraction of those produced by the island’s kōwhai. Soon, the island’s tracks and roadsides will be framed and carpeted with brilliant yellow blooms as the buds open to provide a stunning spectacle and a bounty for the island's wildlife.
Those with a keen eye may notice that as the flower buds develop, the kōwhai bear very few leaves. This is because Sophora chathamica (the kōwhai species planted as part of the island’s reforestation programme*) is brevideciduous. This means that it loses all, or nearly all, of its leaves for a brief period each year. In the kōwhai’s case, this occurs during flower development.
To book your tickets to Tiritiri Matangi and perhaps a guided walk, head to https://www.exploregroup.co.nz/.../tiritiri-matangi-island/
*S. chathamica. Otherwise known as the coastal kōwhai, it is native to the northern half of the North Island. Seeds for trees planted on Tiritiri Matangi were sourced from coastal trees growing in Shakespear Regional Park.
Photo credit: Jonathan Mower

04/08/2026

Flippers off starboard ...
On a recent visit to Tiritiri Matangi, an eagle-eyed marine scientist spotted a shape in the water off Hobb's beach as the ferry was departing. Soon a small crowd had gathered on the deck and children were squealing with delight when the shape was identified as a kekeno/ New Zealand fur seal.
Native to Aotearoa New Zealand, kekeno are our country's most common seal and are found along rocky coastlines throughout the motu. Once hunted to the brink of extinction during the European sealing era of the 1700s and 1800s for their meat and pelts, the species has made a remarkable recovery. Kekeno are no longer classified as endangered, and their population is now estimated to exceed 200,000.*
Despite this population recovery, human activity still poses many threats to kekeno. These include entanglement in fishing gear, bycatch in commercial fisheries, disturbance by people and dogs, habitat disruption and boat strikes and climate change. It is worth noting that although kekeno populations have increased significantly, they still number only a fraction of the population that once called Aotearoa home.
Visitors travelling to and from Tiritiri Matangi are often treated to sightings of dolphins, but encounters with kekeno are far rarer, making this a memorable sighting.
You can book your ferry ticket to Tiritiri Matangi and perhaps a guided walk here:
https://www.exploregroup.co.nz/.../tiritiri-matangi-island/
Photo credits:
Kekeno in the water:Eva Cadario .camera
Beached kekeno: Jonathan Mower
*Source: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/marine-mammals/seals/nz-fur-seal/

31/07/2026

The tiniest forests on Tiritiri Matangi are easy to miss.
Lichens cloak tree trunks, branches and rocks in a tapestry of radiating, leafy, sometimes threadlike forms. In essence, they create tiny forests of varying texture, colour and complexity.
What looks like a single plantlike organism is actually a remarkable partnership. Each lichen is a symbiosis between a fungus and microscopic algae, or sometimes cyanobacteria growing together in a mutually beneficial relationship. The fungus provides structure, shelter, minerals and access to water, while the photosynthesising algae captures sunlight and produces food to support its fungi partner.
Together, they form one of nature's most enduring relationships that have created some of the oldest living 'organisms' on Earth, with some lichens estimated to be many thousands of years old. *
After rain, these tiny forests seem to come alive. Soft greys deepen, fresh greens emerge, and every delicate surface catches the light, revealing details that dry weather often keeps hidden.
Next time you're on the island, slow down for a moment and take a closer look at the forests around you for some of Tiritiri Matangi's most interesting forests are only a few centimetres tall.
You can book your ferry ticket to Tiritiri Matangi and perhaps a guided walk here:
https://www.exploregroup.co.nz/.../tiritiri-matangi-island/
Photo credit: Eva Cadario .camera
*This slow growth rate enables scientists to use the size of lichens to estimate the age of the surfaces on which they are growing, a science known as “lichenometry.”

27/07/2026

"I beheld the astonishing spectacle of a 'sea-fire.' In the wake of the vessel I beheld a streak of fire... every wave, as it rose up, threw out sparks of fire."
So wrote Austrian explorer, ethnographer and travel writer Ida Pfeiffer in her 1850 travel journal A Woman's Journey Round the World, describing the phenomenon we now know as marine bioluminescence. In the 19th century, sailors commonly referred to its shimmering blue glow as "sea-fire", a name that perfectly captured the ocean's magical light.
On a recent visit to Tiritiri Matangi, photographer Grant Birley captured this striking image of the waves around Tiritiri Matangi wharf glowing with electric-blue bioluminescence. This natural light show is created by a planktonic dinoflagellate*, Noctiluca scintillans, which during the day can be observed accumulating in pinkish-red, jelly-like blooms along the water's edge.
The blue glow appears when the water is disturbed by wave action or other movement, triggering a chemical reaction within the tiny organisms. In Noctiluca scintillans, a light-producing molecule called luciferin reacts with oxygen in a process catalysed by the enzyme luciferase, releasing energy as brilliant blue light. (This beautifully named chemistry can also occur as the organisms die, although the glow is typically much fainter and more gradual than the vivid flashes produced when the water is disturbed.)
You can book your ferry ticket to Tiritiri Matangi and perhaps a guided walk here:
https://www.exploregroup.co.nz/.../tiritiri-matangi-island/
Bioluminescence photo credit: Grant Birley
Noctiluca Photo Credit: Jonathan Mower
*Dinoflagellates are tiny, single-celled organisms that live mostly in oceans and freshwater. They through the water using two tiny, whip-like tails called flagella.