Prince Harry passed on greetings from "our little bump" to New Zealanders when he and pregnant wife Meghan toured a South Island nature reserve on Monday.
The British royals were met with blasts from a conch shell before a traditional Maori greeting was performed in their honour as they arrived at the Abel Tasman National Park.
In pouring rain, Harry told the crowd he was grateful the weather was just mild enough to allow the royal party to make the trip from the capital Wellington in a New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter.
"The forecast was a lot worse than this so we are very, very glad to have made it," he said.
"The rain is a blessing on all of us... from my wife, myself and our little bump, we are so grateful to be here.
"We bring blessings from my grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, and all of our family."
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The couple then walked along the beach arm-in-arm talking to ranger Andrew Lamason.
They came across a weka, with their guide describing the flightless bird as New Zealand's version of a monkey because of their cheeky nature.
Earlier, the pair expressed their admiration for mental health workers at a beachside morning tea in Wellington.
Sitting alongside Meghan at the Maranui Cafe in Lyall Bay, Harry was unstinting in his praise for the gathered mental health advocates.
"I take my hat off to you guys," he told members of Voices of Hope, which aims to prevent youth suicide.
"Everyone needs someone to turn to right?"
Meghan, sipping from a cup of tea and wearing a grey Club Monaco trench coat to ward off the Wellington chill, added: "You're all doing really excellent work."
The couple are in New Zealand on the final leg of a marathon 16-day tour which has also taken in Australia, Fiji and Tonga.
The trip coincided with the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney, an Olympic style sporting event for wounded soldiers that Harry helped found.
