Sea Urchin Cottage

21/07/2025

The Sea Urchin Cottage has now closed for business.
She has taken a short journey to a new home just down Pohutukawa Ave.
A new home will be built on site soon.
Thank you to everyone that was involved with ‘Little Blue’ aka Sea Urchin Cottage.

22/07/2024

Zoe the Wonder Dog crossed the Rainbow Bridge to forever land today.
17days short of her 19th birthday.
So peaceful. Sad, but I would never have let her suffer.
Thanks to the vets at Kopu Franklin vets.
And everyone who looked after her over the years. She was such a sweet girl.
Gonna miss her wanting a Ride in the Car.
She could even hear the car keys somehow when she was almost completely deaf.

04/04/2024

Check out the latest Rail Trail Details here...

The Hauraki Rail Trail is one of the easiest trails in the country to cycle, with the 197km track made up of 5 sections.

24/12/2023

Wishing you all a peaceful festive period. Thank you all for your friendship and support of each other.
Please take a moment to reflect on how lucky we really are here in New Zealand. Current world wide politics caused by religious beliefs have destroyed lives and homes.
Accept differences and values of others as their own as long as they don't harm or persecute others.

Look after yourselves and others as you would like to be treated.
Let's work together for a better year ahead.

Hugs
Paul and Zoe the wonder dog 🐕

26/07/2023

Seriously a great documentary to watch. New Zealands first terrorist attack, on the Rainbow Warrior.

Reexamine the fatal bombing of Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland, a jaw-dropping tale of state terrorism, environmental activism and superpower's vying for terrifying nuclear power.

24/04/2023

19/08/2022

Amazing!!

WELCOME HOME 4RBBY!
Sometime on the evening of 16 August 2022 4RBBY (a Bar-tailed godwit) landed on the South Manukau Harbour having coped with the strong winds and heavy rain sweeping down from the tropics. She flew at least 4,800km from New Guinea in four days.
She departed northward in 2021 and 2022 from Matarangi on the Coromandel so she may well head back there but perhaps not until the weather calms down a bit.
Last year, as the map shows she travelled all the way to Northern Siberia where she spent months wandering around making us question whether she was actually a Siberian bird. The on 1 August 2021 she finally flew across the Bering Sea to Alaska and on 27 Sept 21 she set off south but stopped in NSW and only making it back to Matarangi on 30 October 2021. This year her aborted northward flight saw her spend just over four month on the south coast of New Guinea, mostly in West Papua before on 12 August she set out once again for New Zealand. The map shows the dates she was at key sites and the major flight distances.
Fingers crossed her tag continues to work long enough to show us another full round trip.

Another wader story unfolding is the transfer of 6 young Shore Plovers from Cape Sanctuary in Hawkes Bay to Motutapu in the Hauraki Gulf to replace those lost when a Stoat got on the island and decimated the small population. These birds are very vulnerable to mammalian predators but hopefully they have a 2nd chance on this island. Compared to the godwits these bird barely leave their territories, probably flying less in a whole lifetime than a godwit does in one day! https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2022/08/air-new-zealand-doc-partner-to-transfer-rare-native-t-turuatu-to-motutapu-island.html

Adrian
17.8.22

13/10/2020

Very pleased to be a Superhost again, 10 in a row!

08/08/2020

Zoe the wonder dog celebrated another birthday today.
Happy 14th birthday.

06/01/2020

A new batch of soap made today for the guests at the cottage.