White Heron in Wonderland

The exquisite White Heron and its ancestral nesting site on the Waitangiroto River in New Zealand's South Westland spell a magic allure. To the Maori the Kotuku, or White Heron, has long been revered as a sacred bird and has come to symbolize everything that is beautiful and rare.
For centuries the White Heron returned to the same nesting trees above the tranquil flowing river of the swamp forest in complete secrecy. It was only in the nineteenth century that a European explorer discovered this idyllic place.
The Waitangiroto Colony is the only nesting area of the White Heron in New Zealand, and every spring birds return from the far corners of the Country to breed. Under the close supervision of the Department of Conservation you too can now visit this once isolated place.
It's less than a half hour's drive from Franz Josef to Whataroa where the tour begins, and in just a few hours you can experience the character of a traditional New Zealand country road followed by the elegant sweep of scenery viewed on a jet boat ride to the Coast. In the sanctuary a board walk takes you through ancient Kahikatea forest to a "hide" amongst the trees, unseen by nesting Herons rearing their young, undisturbed only metres across the river.
In this legendary place you will be at one with other life as well, like Bellbird and Tui, and the comical round beak Royal Spoonbill. And in the intimate proximity of one of the last untouched wilderness places on earth you will come away with a new understanding of the Natural World, and an insight into the place of the bird which spans the Natural and Mythological Worlds.