What an ominous name for a place. It sounds like somewhere Superman wouldn't want to be near. Cape Kidnappers, known as Te Kauwae-a-Maui (the fish hook of Maui), is named due to the local Maori attempting to kidnap a member of Captain Cook's crew in 1769. For the past couple of days I've been staying with my friend, Dave. He is from Sheffield and is the guy who introduced me to geocaching. Eight years later, I've found caches in 38 countries across all seven continents. He asked me if I could replace a cache for him whilst visiting the gannet colony. Timing would be important as the walk takes around two hours each way and you must set out around two hours before low tide. Dave would give me a lift out to Clifton, and on the way we picked up a guy who had swastikas tattooed all over his arm. A few weeks ago I was picked up by a guy who had a swastika tattooed on his cheek and the following day I was picked up by a guy who had white pride tattoos all over his arm and a huge skull on the back of his head.
From Clifton it would be a long walk along the beach. The colours are lovely out this way.
Most of the walk is along the beach but the final stretch is up a hill. Watching the tide is important because it could be easy to get stranded if the tide is too high. After replacing the geocache for Dave and signing the log, it was a short walk to the gannet colony. Dave warned me it stinks but after dealing with the stench of penguin guano in Antarctica, I can deal with most things.
Regarded as "masters of the wind" by New Zealand Geographic and with a wingspan of nearly two metres, gannets build their nests in a very similar manner to penguins. After the chicks fledge, they undertake a journey as far as Australia, though some only make it as far as the Cook Strait. They later return, and remain at their respective colony for the rest of their lives.
Whilst I spotted a few people on their way back from the colony earlier, I was the only person at the colony until a tour bus pulled up. It started to rain, and I asked the driver if I could catch a lift back, but he wanted to charge me $50 for the short journey back to Hastings or Napier. I couldn't hang round at the colony too long due to the tides, so I made sure my camera was dry and began my way back. With a broken jandal (flip-flop) I had to walk barefoot most of the way, and in one stretch I had to wade through (holding my wallet and phone high as I did so).
Cape Kidnappers is a great day outing. Even without gannets and geocaching, the views alone make the journey worthwhile.
