Kāpiti Island Nature Tours runs a lodge, including meals, with various styles of accommodation at Waiorua Bay. This provides an overnight option on Kāpiti Island, with a night walk to find kiwi. Unfortunately, we did not see kiwi on this walk but the bird life around the lodge was extensive and easier to spot, without the trees. A weka and a kākā made an astonishing joint raid on our outdoor meal (we were too busy laughing to get a photo!).
The beach at Waiorua Bay is mostly stony, but as part of the nature reserve, it is scattered with paua shells. For the first time, we also found many beautiful nautilus squid shells on a beach. The squid can get stranded, and then the shells are quickly picked clean by seabirds. The nature reserve ban on removals makes them easy to find.
Two other walks are accessible from the bay: the Boulder Bank Loop around the Okupe Lagoon and northeast coast and the Okupe Valley Loop Track. The former is closed from October to March to protect nesting seabirds, while the latter climbs to the top of the 200-metre cliffs at the northwest end of the Island.
