madao

Hi

Maybe it's been done before on here and well known about but thought I'd give a recommendation for a visit to Somes island in Wellington harbour. We camped there over the weekend and I found it fascinating. Most people aparantly go for a day trip or stop for a couple hours on their way to Days Bay.

For those that dont know Somes was the main NZ quarantine station for imported animals, everything from sheep to Lamas. It closed fairly recently in 1995 but looking round the preserved quarantine centre and other buildings was really interesting.

It was also used to house Italian and German's during the war, had some gun battery's built on top of the hill and a degaussing station run by WREN's, remains of which can all be seen. It was also used to house immigrants with diseases coming of the arriving boats. Before all that there is a lot of Maori history too.

Since the quarantine centres closure the island has been managed by DOC and its now rodent free. this means they have been able to reintroduce a lot of native plants and animals over the years. we came across lots of Wetas and a Tuatara during a midnight walk on Saturday. We also had a tour with a guide on Sunday morning who showed some of their current work, playing bird calls out from a speaker on a cliff to entice new birds in to the nests they have built and the houses for penguins who come up the cliffs to nest.

This was our first camping experience in NZ and one of my first for many years. The campsite is limited to 10 people and has a small kitchen with a gas oven, proper toilet and a gas BBQ to use. No showers though but there's always the sea!

Best of all, it's a bargain. $10 a night pp to camp and another $10 for the optional tour which lasted 2 hours and only had 4 of us on it.

It's not often I'm truly impressed but considering its only 20 minutes on a ferry from the CBD its a gem.

You'll probably all tell me its been done to death now

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...-somes-island/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matiu_/_Somes_Island

Edit, should also say its suitable for kids as its not too huge and the walking tracks and road is in good condition.

MrsFychan

Not something I was aware of so thanks for sharing

BEVS

Nope . Never read of this before.

Me likey .

MOSO

Agreed, my daughter went on a Brownie camp there, said the views of Wellington at night are worth it.

We've also been for a couple of hours - keep an eye out for half price tickets on the ferry from grabone.co.nz

Make sure you go on a sunny day and you'll see more skinks, geckos, wetas etc. and the tuataras come out to sunbathe. We also saw little blue penguins from the ferry. My parents went on a cloudy day a couple of years ago and saw nothing in the way of wildlife...

The kids also discovered that the fish by the wharf absolutely love pringles by the way (and probably other food too!). You'll see loads while you wait for the ferry.

Definitely worth a trip and cheaper than Karori for the same wildlife.

simonmarkellis

Were the blue penguins still living in the pipe?