Take a Road Trip to see the Muriwai Gannet Colony

Last updated on 12 April 2017

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The Muriwai Gannet Colony is well worth the trip

Perhaps not quite an ‘Auckland’ adventure, but close enough to Auckland that I’ve decided to add it to this series. I had been home less than 24 hours from my summer holiday (which was brilliant, but far less grand than ‘summer holiday’ might infer), when my family announced they were off to Muriwai to check out the gannet colony.

While I had been previously in my younger years (sounding so old right now), my younger sister hadn’t been, so it was a fun outing for a Wednesday afternoon while school is still out.

“From August to March each year,” like the website so kindly states, “you can watch the comings and goings of a busy gannet colony. It’s hugely entertaining.”

It’s about an hour’s drive from Auckland, and while it stinks like bird poo (true story), it really is a great place to explore and hang out.

The bird numbers are hundreds. Hundreds. They’re everywhere. At the time we went there were so many baby birds about that every adult bird seemed to be caring for a small, fluffy bird. But in reality, the pairs of gannets take turns caring for the chick. Tag teaming, at its finest.

You can read more about the gannets here on the New Zealand website. 

Have you been out to the gannet colony?