Today we travelled to the gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers, Hawke’s Bay

Gannet Safaris are based in Te Awanga and we left our car there and went on their mini bus to the Gannet Colony.

You travel 7 miles over private farmlands to reach the colony. Our driver, Graham told us all about the history of the land we travelled over; from when Captain Cook named the cape Cape Kidnappers to present day. It was so interesting to hear about the families who had owned and worked the land. The present owner is a billionaire who has created a top class golf course up there with accommodation and facilities costing mega bucks to stay there.

The road is tarmacked up to the golf course but gravel there after. The land is covered in steep gullies and hills. The bus climbed along scary bends with very deep drops. We stopped to view the coastline at the top of the sheer cliff. A very recent cliff rock fall has closed the beach to the public. You could walk 5 miles to the colony along the beach, up to January this year, then they had to stop this for safety. So now the only way to get to the gannet colony is by Gannet Safari buses.

There were 3 colonies. You could see the other 2 in the distance. There were so many birds and chicks. It was noisy and very smelly. It was difficult to get good shots as you couldn’t photo individuals and they were moving so much. Anyway here is a taste…

We enjoyed the whole morning it was so entertaining.

After lunch eaten near the closed off beach we went to the motel for a rest. Since then we’ve popped into Napier and wandered along the sea promenade. Tomorrow we are going to see the Art Deco buildings in town and explore inside some of them.

Hope the weather is getting less windy now for you, pleased we missed that. Xxx