Nov 14, 2024
Don't hesitate, do it! - I booked this tour because I really wanted to see kiwis in the wild but didn't want to be wandering around bushland by myself late at night. And I'm so glad I did!
Not only did we see 3 Tokoeka kiwis on our bush walk, we also did a pelagic cruise around Rakiura and Ulva Island (the cruise started at 7.30 but sunset is around 9) from which we spotted Fiordland Crested Penguins, Yellow Eyed Penguins, Pied and Spotted Shags, Brown Skuas, plus some NZ fur seals and sea lions.
The kiwi walk itself was awesome, we split into two groups and silently walked through the bush and onto the beach. It was quite fun and I would have enjoyed it even if we didn't see kiwi, but I'm so very happy that we did on multiple occasions. We could also hear them calling out in the distance. It was amazing.
The boat got back to Oban at I think 1am so it is a very late night but absolutely worth it.
Our guides Jac and I can't remember the other girl's name but she had long wavy brown hair - they were both fantastic, full of enthusiasm and knowledge.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 11, 2024
Wildlife at its best. - We went on this tour in the vague hope that we would see kiwis in their natural habitat. We saw them and more. The cruise picked us up around 7.30pm, we toured around Bench Island, Ulva and Steward Islands. We saw Fiordland Crested Penguins, the rare Yellow Eyed penguins, little blue penguins, NZ fur seals, sea lions and to top it all kiwis. The team on board were all excellent and extremely knowledgeable. They split the group of 11 of us into two groups for the bush walk so it felt really personal. The bush walk a great experience. Highly recommend this tour. We got back to Oban around 12.30am, exhausted but buzzing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 13, 2024
Amazing Experience - I couldn't recommend this tour enough. There were nine of us on the tour and four staff members, who were all knowledgeable, friendly, and enthusiastic. The beach walk to see the Kiwis was brilliant; we saw two in their natural habitat, not to mention the penguins, seals, albatrosses, and dolphins! It was the highlight of my trip around the South Island, and it was worth every cent!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 19, 2024
Awesome - We had a great trip with tour guides Karen and Natasha. Seeing a kiwi in the wild was one of our highlights of our holidays!!
Review provided by Viator
Apr 17, 2024
Phenomenal Guide! - Absolutely amazing experience. Boat tour was engaging and entertaining! Sea lions came right up to the boat, thanks to the frantic clapping and whistling from our incredibly dedicated and enthusiastic guide. Our guide, Karen, made the experience unforgettable with their infectious enthusiasm and knowledgeable commentary. Karen knew exactly where to look and how to walk quietly through the woods to not scare the kiwi. WE SAW 6! Cannot recommend this experience enough, RealNZ did an incredible job!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 15, 2024
Awesome - We went to Ulva Island in the afternoon and this excursion in the evening. We had the same staff and that was great because they were passionate and funny. This excursion has to be one of the highlights of our trip so far. First a boat trip where we saw many great points, a beautiful rainbow on the rock with sea lions, albatrosses that came close to the boat and probably even more beautiful points. Then we arrived on the island to look for the Tyrannosaurus Kiwi. Like a real Freek Vonk, armed with a flashlight (which you receive), walk through the dark forest in search of this mighty beast (only shine on the ground to see where you are walking). The guides have an infrared viewer or something and can thus detect this creature more easily. We quickly found a kiwi, guides shine a red light on the kiwi so that you can see the animal clearly and it doesn't bother them much. What a cool animal, powerful legs and with that big beak they always poke into the ground to look for food. Finally arrived at the beach and unfortunately saw no animals there, but the sky was beautiful, the Milky Way was beautiful. Spotted a kiwi on the way back. It was super cool and highly recommended
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 13, 2024
Albatross, mutton birds and kiwis galore - Fantastic trip, starts with a boat ride out to see albatross, seals, mutton birds, sea lions etc Then some introduction to Kiwis and a Kiwi walk through Bush to a beach. Our two guides were wonderful, so enthusiastic and in the end just as excited to see kiwis as the guests. Had 4 sitings, 3 on the beach which lasted over an hour. Highpoint was when we witnessed a male meet a female and watched them put their beaks to the sky and call to each other, spine tingling stuff.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 2, 2024
Tokoeka Tour of Lifetime - Cannot recommend this tour enough! This was our second RealNZ tour of the day, and while we may have felt tired before setting out, this quickly dissipated with the excitement of the journey. We stopped in several incredible spots en route to the ultimate destination, observing penguins (hoiho/yellow-eyed and tawaki/Friodland crested), seals and albatross, among other native species. Once night fell, the kiwi tour was an absolute dream. We crept through the impressive forests, listening for the signs of Stewart Island tokoeka. Our guide, Karen, who we were lucky enough to have for the second time that day, truly went above and beyond. She made sure we had the best possible experience, and between the two groups, we ended up seeing three tokoeka. Pure magic. Even with wet weather threatening to roll in, this couldn't possibly put a damper on our experience. Our captain Matt was fabulous as well, starting our return trip in the dark with the Titanic theme song, just perfect. Hot chocolate on board was the night cap we needed. Thank you RealNZ, and Karen in particular, for an adventure we'll always remember.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 29, 2024
Kiwi Excitement - This adventure was exciting! We took a scenic boat ride over to Tribal land and hiked through the woods at night from 10 pm to 12 am. We were fortunate and saw a couple kiwis. One was unfazed and spent about 20 minutes with us.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 8, 2024
Overpriced, WAY Too Many People - Kiwi are naturally very scared of vibrations, noises, and lights, so we were very surprised that they sent us out to hunt kiwi in large groups of 11 each with flashlights without red light filters (which are less offensive to kiwi). We walked around for hours and didn't see any kiwi, probably because there was always someone in the group stumbling or brushing loudly against a tree. The guides were also using bright, non-red flashlights to look for/scare away the kiwi. At this price, the groups should be WAY smaller, probably 4 or 5 at most, to have a realistic chance of seeing kiwi.
We saw cool penguins and sea lions on the way, but that's not what we traveled to Stewart Island or booked this tour for. They also only brought about half as many binoculars as there were guests, which was disappointing.
I would not recommend this tour, just go look for kiwi on your own with red light filters on your flashlights. We found 2 on our own the next night!
Review provided by Viator
