April 1, 2013
Kawau Island’s biggest claim to fame is the Mansion House and its grounds. The Mansion House is somewhat reminiscent of the Hearst Castle in California. In the late 1800s an eccentric Australian millionaire bought a large area of property, built a mansion on the shore and made the grounds his own personal wonderland filled with exotic trees, plants and animals. He imported wallabies and kookaburra birds from Australia and added zebras, monkeys and peacocks to the mix.
The house and grounds are now open to the public, and while the zebras and monkeys are long gone, the wallabies and kookaburra linger to this day. Peacocks freely roam the grounds along with weka, one of New Zealand’s brown flightless birds much like a banded rail. There’s a nice little cafe where you can have a bite and enjoy the scenery and wandering birds.
We soon learned there are a lot of weka on Kawau, and like the kiwi their haunting cries float from the hills. The difference is the kiwi are nocturnal and you’ll only hear them at night. Between the weka and kookabara calls that can be heard by day, and the kiwis and the mooreporks (small owls that make a persistent soft hooting call) at night, this island has quite a bird soundtrack. (People who stay in Mansion House Bay in the spring must also get to experience the unforgettable piercing dawn screams of the peacocks.) –Cyndi
