Cape Kidnappers Tour (9/21/2025)

Sunday, September 21, 2025

This morning we drove 30 minutes to the town of Clifton
for the Gannet Safaris Cape Kidnappers Tour (KSS)

Unfortunately, the best sightings of Kiwis is when
they are taxidermised, as seen in the tour office

Today there were only five of us on the tour

Much of the cape is devoted to sheep and cattle
stations; the sheep are generally Ovis aries 'Romney'
or Romney x Perendale crosses which are hardy and
thrive in the toughest country of steep hills and glens

Cape Kidnappers is dramatic peninsula, taking its name
from the 1769 incident when the Māoris attempted to
kidnap Captain James Cook's Tahitian cabin boy
because they thought he was being held captive

Below is Clifton Beach with the remains
of a 2019 coastal landslide that initially
extended 75 m/246' out in the water, and
swept two tourists out to sea; although
seriously injured, the couple survived

It so happened that a Gannet Safaris tour was at this outlook when the landslide occurred, and photos were taken from before the landslide with two persons in view, and then during the landslide.

Cape Kidnappers Lookout over Hawkes Bay 

The photos do not do justice to the steepness of the
hills and glens (KSS)

Black Reef is home to one of four gannet colonies

As a privately owned wildlife sanctuary, there are
professional rangers whose mission is to restore the
native ecosystem within a 10.6 km/6.6-mile predator-proof
fence, which has allowed for the reintroduction of
native species such as the kiwi and tuatara

Maui's Hook which relates to a legend of
the demigod Māui fishing up the North Island

We drove up on a ridge from which down below
was the second gannet colony

We were within meters of the third colony of Morus
serrator/Australasian Gannets on the ridge plateau (KSS)

And below us was the fourth colony, making Cape Kidnappers
the home of the largest gannet population in New Zealand,
and the most accessible mainland colony n the world (KSS)

The gannet breeding season is September to April, so at this
time they are collecting seaweed to build the nest and courting

Kent and Tamiko with gannets

A Chroicocephalus bulleri/Black-billed Gull in the
lower left shows how much larger are the gannets

At least two pairs in this photo are practicing the courtship
ritual of bill fencing/tapping their bills together,
which also creates a heart-shape between their necks

A mating pair; the male often pecks the head of the female

Video shows a gannet bringing seaweed,

and pairs sky-pointing

The nests are made with mud, excrement, and seaweed (KSS)

Seaweed-bearing gannet (KSS)

These sheep do not mind the steep hillsides

View toward the Black Reef gannet colony

Traps are used to capture predators such as
stoats, ferrets, rats, hedgehogs, and feral cats

Back in Clifton, we had lunch at Hygge Café

Ham and cheese quiche with salad and chutney

Vegetable frittata with salad and chutney

Canola fields were in bloom in New Zealand

Not the season for vineyards

Next: Wellington.