Day 6: Stewart Island

26 November 2020

After kiwi spotting last night we are looking forward to a bit of a sleep in but with the sun shining in again and such a beautiful view outside, I decide to go down for breakfast fairly early.

David had been on a scenic flight yesterday and several of us were keen to try to go up this morning if we can. David has been in contact with them but we wait and wait and then eventually we are told it won’t be possible. I’ve shared some of David’s photos below.

Adolf and I set off for a walk around the bays (Bruce and David join us some of the way but then turn back). It is really picturesque with lovely views back to Oban and then several little bays with boat houses in them. We learnt that the boat houses are very sought after real estate and can sell for up to $200k. They are not allowed to expand the footprint and you are not allowed to stay overnight but by the look of some of the renovations this can’t be policed very much.

We explore beyond where we went on the bus tour yesterday wondering what is around the next point and the next point. We see a sign for penguins at Acker point but decide that we can’t get right to the end as we will run out of time to be able to get back for our afternoon trip to Ulva Island. As it turns out we could have made it there and back in time, but we had a good 2 hour walk.

Lots of the bays are named after original settlers and we see the Acker cottage in a lovely little bay that had wharf and other remains as well. The cottage is tiny and we later hear that the Ackers raised a family of 9 children there. On the way back we stop at Leask Bay where we are surprised by a sea lion sleeping on the beach, who then gets up and poses for us. It is such a lovely little bay with boat houses, a boat up on the beach and several remains of previous fishing and other activity. We later hear that the Leasks won prizes at the World Expo of 1889 (when the Eiffel Tower was built) for their canned seafood products – we can see the remains of their canning facility.

We have enough time to pop into the greenstone carver’s gallery and then to the supermarket to get a snack for lunch. We all meet at the wharf to join the Ulva Island tour. We go on the ferry that had brought us over around the bays and into Patterson Inlet, learning more about the Island’s history on the way. We see the southernmost house in the world again and also the world’s southernmost golf course – we are now about 180km south of Tasmania in latitude.

We have guides to show us around Ulva Island, which is a pest-free sanctuary with land set aside as parkland back in 1890 – very forward thinking. We cover just a small portion of the island on our tour but our guide Henry points out all sorts of interesting plants and creatures, entertaining us with lots of facts and stories such as learning the difference between male rimu foliage (hard and prickly) and female rimu foliage (soft and floppy).

We see lots of bird life, including many kaka who serenade us with their clunking and screeching up in the tree tops. We see a few flying with their bright red fronts but unfortunately not close enough to photograph. We also see how they scrape bark off the trees to encourage bugs to come and feed on the soft wood, providing a gourmet banquet for the kaka – very enterprising but very destructive birds.

Stewart Island Robins (Totowai) are much more obliging and come in close to look for insects that we disturb in the forest floor. I also spot a Kereru (Wood Pigeon) napping in a tree. And a weka joins us on the path.

We are again extremely lucky with the weather. It rains quite heavily on the boat ride over but clears again as we get to the island, and starting to rain again as we are about to depart.

Back in Oban we have some time to relax before our final dinner in the hotel. Where did the time go? We have done so much in such a short time. Milford Sound seems like weeks ago but it was only a few days. We sit up on the balcony watching the Stewart Island world go by and, given that this is the centre of the community, much of the world does go by. We see the policeman with his boat loaded up ready for an evening’s fishing. The local builder fetches some loads of pink batts and some long beams that have come in on the ferry.

The film cast come by in dribs and drabs too. Some of our group have put 2 and 2 together and decided that the people we see fit the casting profiles of the Australian TV show Travel Guides and that they must be filming a NZ version. The series follows six groups of ordinary people who take on the job of travel critics who experience the same week-long international and domestic holidays, and review the same accommodation, cuisine, and local sights. This fits with the time frames our friend on the ferry told us about -they must be disappointed that COVID has put paid to the international holidays.

A couple of people have ordered crayfish for tonight’s meal – Adolf and I are sure we saw a boat pulling up his crayfish when we went for our walk. I had been going to try the local salmon but when we got to dinner we discovered that there was lots of crayfish available and we are able to put what Intrepid would have paid for this dinner towards the cost so I would be silly not to have fresh crayfish.

Join me over the next few days to find out more about my adventures:

Day 1 New Zealand Southern Loop

Day 2 Queenstown to Te Anau

Day 3 Milford Sound

Day 4 Te Anau to the Catlins

Day 5 Catlins to Stewart Island

Day 6 Stewart Island

Day 7 Southern Coast

Day 8 Invercargill