It was a lovely if somewhat breezy day when we gathered at Day’s Bay to catch the ferry to Matiu-Somes Island. It only took 15-minutes on the ferry to get to the island. During the ride we had to inspect our bags for any unwanted pests. Once on the island a dry scrub of the shoes and walk over a disinfected mat, meant we were good to go. We turned left up the circular track which took us immediately into the bush. This had grown quite a bit since my last visit and it was a lovely walk around the island. We stopped at various points for photos and went down to both lookouts as well as the lighthouse. We looked inside a Weta Motel, where a couple of Weta’s were in residence. We saw a number of seabirds but only spotted a couple of Kakariki which were too far away to photograph. Although the island has over 50 Tuatara, these are nocturnal, so we didn’t spot any. It was the same with the geckos as with only 2 hours on the island, we didn’t have time to explore properly. You get a better chance with an overnight stay.

It was still a lovely outing and Andrea and Gordon climbed up to the highest point to enjoy the view from the trig. We finished with a cuppa at the Day’s Bay Pavilion.

Lead - Judith O’Leary

Walkers: Helena, Mark, Anne-Mette, Gordon, Denise, Andrea, Helen, Sue and Peter