Giant white kiwi taking flight to new nest

The kiwi will be moved to its new home in a few days.PHOTO/FILE

The biggest day of the year in Eketahuna is fast approaching, with the town's kiwi set to "take flight" to its new nest outside the old Post Office at 9.30am on Monday.

Eketahuna upgrade project liaison and Community Board member Sharon Shannon said the kiwi relocation was one of the highlights of the town's main street upgrade, and was something the community had been looking forward to for quite a while.

"The day is finally coming for our kiwi to take flight, so we're letting our community know that anyone is welcome to come down and have a look," she said.

"There'll be traffic management in place and we'll try to accommodate people when they come as to where they can stand and all that."

Mrs Shannon said the moving of the kiwi would not be the upgrade finale, but it was definitely an aspect of the project that had captured the attention of the public.

"Moving the kiwi is obviously something people are interested in and it's going to bring a bit of attention to Eketahuna," she said.

"The whole main street upgrade has been part of a redevelopment for Eketahuna. We've seen different shops opening, we've seen house sales pick up.

"There's an accumulation of a number of things happening around town and the upgrade is just part of the catalyst of moving forward."

The kiwi relocation will be carried out by Downer, which has prepared a film crew to document the move for media release and archiving.

Mrs Shannon said the weather forecast was "supposed to be okay - we just want the weather on our side, as long as it's not windy or rainy, we'll be fine".