Fieldy handles all communication and booking for you.
What it actually looks like
Photos from North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre's website
Our note
Without a guide there is nobody telling the children what they are looking at, so print the map first and share out the reading among the adults. The playground beside the wildlife garden is the place to let them run, because running near the animals is not allowed.
What the children do
The same school visit form lets a class come and go round the centre at its own pace with no volunteer guide. Groups are 15 to 45 students, requests are processed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the centre takes one group at a time in the morning or the afternoon. A map of the grounds can be downloaded from the visit page. As with a guided tour, what a school group pays is not published and the coordinator sends a payment schedule after the request goes in.
Walk the grounds at their own pace with the printed map, stopping at whichever enclosures they choose, and finishing at the picnic tables or the Field of Stones playground beside the wildlife garden.
Good to know
Same grounds as the guided tour: gravelled paths that take a wheelchair, washrooms in the Eagle Flight Enclosure building, picnic tables and free parking with room for a bus. Nothing is said about cover if it rains.
Sources disagree. Their own two pages print admission slightly differently. The home page says $15 for an adult and $6 for a child aged 4 to 16 with tax on top, and the visit page shows the same figures with nothing said about tax. The numbers agree, so budget for tax being added and check the total when you pay.
Washrooms
Washrooms are wheelchair accessible and have one baby changing station. They are located in the Eagle Flight Enclosure building.
Lunch space
Picnic areas with tables and benches are scattered around the grounds. Picnic tables are available for use after your tour for snack and/or lunch time.
Rain backup
Needs confirmation
Strollers
Needs confirmation
Wheelchair access
Our paths are graveled and wheelchair accessible. Two wheelchairs are available for visitor use at no charge.
Bus parking
Bus parking is available (a parking map will be provided). Parking is free, and reserved spots for the disabled are in the main lot near the entrance.
Nearby park
Needs confirmation
Restrictions
Cell phones are for photo use only. Please turn off flash and put phones in 'silent' mode while on-site. Any behaviour (such as running, yelling, rough-housing or playing tag) that frightens, causes stress or endangers the safety of our animals is unacceptable. Students must always stay with chaperones. Please note that free passes and Annual Memberships are not valid for booked tours. Please dress for the weather and be prepared to walk during the tour of the facility
