Love it! - Learned so much about Kiwis, NZ native and invasive wildlife, and the amazing conservation efforts happening here. And got to see two busy little kiwis up close and personal! 🥰

Very educational tour - Very informative tour, and we learnt lots about Kiwi and Tuatara from Amber. We have never been so close to Kiwi before, so this was very special! Thank you for all the mahi you are doing for this endangered species.

Wonderful Tour - Lots to Learn!!! - This was a spectacular tour and Steve who led our tour was just terrific - we got so much information on the Kiwi and the Tuotara and the amazing efforts that the center and so many volunteers are doing to preserve their wildlife. Thank you so much!

Ignore the naysayers!!! - Frankly puzzled by the number of negative reviews. This was one of our favourite experience in 3 weeks touring NZ. The time we had observing the two young kiwis in their individual habitats was value for money in itself. I get that the supporting material is low tech/a bit outdated but it addresses all that you’ll want to know about kiwis and their life challenges. They’re doing great work to help ensure survival of the Rowi kiwi and the ticket price helps support that worthy endeavour. Ticket validity of 48 hours meant that we were able to pop back before we left Franz Josef and spend some more time with the kiwis. And please note it is not pitch black in the room with the kiwis and they’re pretty easy to see unless they’re right at the back of their habitats - in which case wait a few minutes, they tend to roam a fair bit. We happily spent 1-2 hours there and our time was spent on the kiwis rather than the other exhibits which were of less interest to us. Added bonus is that the cafe has some good items for breakfast too.

Fantastic Way To Learn about Kiwi & Totuara - Excellent tour with Kath. She is very knowledgeable about both the Kiwi and Tuatora. Highly recommend the Backstage experience. We’d already been to the Kiwi Hatchery in Rotorua and learned Ben more during this visit. The area for viewing the resident kiwis is also very good. After adjusting to the dark, we were able to see both kiwis being very active. Great experience. Thank you Kath. The front desk people were also friendly and helpful.

So Informative - Brilliant. Loved the backstage pass. Steve was really informative and a pleasure to listen to. Kiwis are amazing birds and the work the Wildlife Centre and other groups do to ensure their numbers grow is impressive. Especially loved the opportunity to see the Tuataras up close. Would recommend this visit to anyone in the vicinity!

See the Rowi Kiwi - Saw two rare Rowi kiwis. These are amazing animals. The tour explain all about these flightless birds and also explains their efforts to preserve them. Highly recommend this activity.

Hope the kiwis are ok - I had forgotten how uncomfortable I am observing animals in captivity. One of the kiwis appeared quite distressed; perhaps it was simply moving rapidly up and down its enclosure looking for breakfast/dinner. 🤷‍♀️

Check for kiwi chicks in hatchery before buying backstage pass - I bought the backstage pass after reading the TripAdvisor write-up for the experience. However, what the write-up failed to say was that kiwi egg and chick viewing are 'seasonal'. So, after I had paid extra for my pass and gone downstairs to start the tour we were told (only at that point) that there were no eggs or chicks in the hatchery/incubation area and it was 'up to you' to check with the front desk before you bought a backstage pass. As I don't come from NZ I thought it rather frustrating that the responsibility was put on 'the visitor' to even know when kiwi chick season is - let alone know to ask if we will be seeing real, live kiwi eggs and kiwi chicks. We were shown an old blown kiwi egg, plus some stuffed kiwis which didn't exactly make up for not seeing the real, live ones. So, beware what time of the year you visit - as there are no eggs/chicks to view in 2nd week of February. Also, if you take the time to watch the informational video upstairs (straight after viewing the 2 young kiwis in the nocturnal viewing area) you learn 95% of everything that the backstage pass commentary covers. So, all in all, unless they have chicks in the hatchery, I'd say save your money and just pay for the general admission. The conservation work the Wildlife Centre is doing is very worthwhile supporting.

An absolute rip off. - This was the most disappointing activity we’ve done in NZ on our 5 week trip. Generally, we’ve found that all activities in both islands of NZ are overpriced, but the Kiwi Wildlife centre, at Franz Josef, takes the cake. It was impossible to see anything - we heard sounds but that was all. It’s just a money grab - Don’t bother.