Those of you who know Mark well will also know that he loves visiting extreme places. So it is understandable that we had to get in a visit to Stewart Island, the most famous little island south of the South Island. As it turns out, there are several small islands that lie off the southern coast in what are considered Subantarctic environments.
We took a one-hour ferry ride across the Foveaux Strait to the only town on the island, Oban, located on the shore of Halfmoon Bay. Not wanting to waste our little more than 24 hours on the island, we promptly set out on a tramp on some tracks within easy reach of our motel. We were immediately awed by the lush vegetation, unceasing birdsong, and outstandingly maintained trails. We were within a few hundred metres at all times of the numerous bays that surround the island, but the dense forest made it seem much further away until we’d stumble in the bright light that indicated we were at a beach. We saw several bird species that we’d heard about as being native to NZ but had never seen firsthand. We also got in a extremely good workout going up and down well over 500 stairsteps! Most exciting was seeing a little blue penguin fishing for its supper in the bay.
After several failed attempts to secure a blue cod fishing trip on the second day, we ended up taking a water taxi to Ulva Island. This island has been completely rid of all bird predators and is a stunning natural aviary. With an inexpensive guide book, we walked all of the tracks covering the 250 hectares. Margaret’s favourite birds were the little tomtits, little black and white birds that were as curious about us as we were of them. We also encountered several wekas, which are very similar to Kiwi birds, but not the least bit shy. In fact several tried to beg a bit of our cheese and cracker lunch off of us. We also encountered many tuis (mostly through song, but we also sighted several), oyster catchers, NZ wood pigeons, bellbirds, and extremely rare saddlebacks. Again, the tracks were marvellously maintained and were effortless to follow.
With a couple hours left on the island before our ferry ride back, Mark and Ben explored further with some rented mountain bikes. Ben’s reaction: “there are *a lot* of hills around here.” I supervised William and Margaret at a king-sized chess board.
Mark paid the price for his desire to see the extreme geography while doggedly wearing shorts: his legs are covered with dozens of tiny sand fly bites.
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