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Published: November 19th 2008
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After a casual start to the day we arrived at Invercargill & headed for the Information centre to find out about a trip to Stewart Island and more specifically Ulva Island bird sanctuary. We ran into a few problems but I won’t bore you with the details.
As night closed in and so did the weather we headed west along the coast out of the city to find some parking for the night. As the rain came in we entered the oldest town of the south island, Riverton. This is the town the 21st century forgot. We headed for the fish n chip shop to save me cooking in the rain. The chippy was also the local video rental store, that’s right VIDEO rental store. To be fair the fish n chips were the best we’ve ever had and only $12 for 12 pieces of Blue Cod and a portion of chips. We did struggle to finish but we persevered and won through. (Mom you would have loved it)
That night we slept like babies down by the local wind swept beach, early start to a big day ahead, ha, ha more mega rare birdies.
At 7am
Pili's new friend
This weka followed us everywhere I kicked everyone out of their beds and made breakfast, porridge and coffee. The journey back to Invercargill took about half an hour. We dropped the girls at a backpackers and said our goodbyes and headed towards the bluff to catch the ferry to Stewart Island. The crossing was really rough. Pili turned a pale shade of green while I stood at the back of the boat watching the Mollyhawks (small Albatross), Petrol’s and Pryons skim the surface of the sea. I didn’t get any photos because of the amount of sea spray, sea water and cameras don’t mix well.
The crossing took an hour. We made for our backpackers lodge on arrival, booked in then headed down Golden Bay to catch the water taxi for the 10mins crossing to Ulva Island.
Instantly on the island the forest was full of exotic bird song. There are 5 walks through the reserve, in total a 4 hour trek, we ended up taking 6hrs. The first trek was up to the highest point on the Island and on the way down we were followed by a Weka. This is a flightless Rail, the same family as the UK’s moorhen. These
birds have no fear of man which of course has lead to it being a highly endangered species. The bird approached us looking for food. Pili gave it some dry apricots and I captured the meeting on film. Every beach we came to had its own solitary Weka. What a shame this very charismatic bird isn’t more widespread; the world would be a better place.
We encountered many endangered species, the South Island Saddleback, South Island Robin, Kaka, New Zealand Parakeets, Bellbird, Brown Tree creeper. All were unafraid by our presence. Another magical experience and one I’ll be very lucky to experience again. After the 6hr walk, creeping as quietly as we could through the forest, we were worn out and ready for the water taxi.
Back on Stewart Island we cooked some Tortellini and showered. We then headed out to find local watering hole for a couple of nightcaps. The pub was a rowdy place full of Saturday night merriment. Unlike similar pubs back home at no time did we feel unwelcome or out of place. A goodtime was had by all.
At 6:30am I crept out of my bed to go for one last trek
through the local woodlands, leaving Pili to sleep. I just had to catch the dawn chorus on this very special island, I wasn’t disappointed. I though I might have a chance of seeing a Kiwi, but alas it wasn’t to be.
Because of a storm coming towards the island forecasted for the afternoon, I decided to return back and get Pili up and on the ferry for 8:30am to avoid her being sea sick later in the day. We had a really nice journey back. Pili joined me watching the sea birds (took photos this time) at the back of the boat while making a fuss of two gorgeous, black Labrador dogs. We were even treated to a magnificent rainbow. All in all a trip to remember forever.
Back at Invercargill we headed back to the Info Centre car park where I downloaded and backed up my precious photos. In the afternoon we headed out toward Hayes Hardware to see Burt Monroe’s Indian bikes, the beach he raced on and his old home. Outside his house it started to hail as we took our picks, the weather was definitely turning moody, a very black sky hanging over us.
Time to head for the famous Fiordlands, via another fish n chip supper at out new favourite video store in Riverton, well it was on the way!
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