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Published: February 27th 2007
Stewart Island
The small town of Oban on Stewart Island.From Te Anau I caught a scenic bus ride through to Invercargill & Bluff to catch the ferry to Stewart Island - the third island of NZ. The crossing was apparently only "average" for roughness, but everyone was thrown about an awful lot. Lots of leaving your stomach behind. I couldn't stop giggling the whole way across for the one hour ride but can see why the guide book recommends the flight.
The next day, I went on a guided nature walk on the nearby Ulva Island. This is a small island where all predators have been removed and many of the flora species have hardly changed in millions of years so the island gives a glimpse into what NZ was like millions of years ago. Many native bird species have been re-introduced so this is a real mecca for ornithologists. We saw saddlebacks, tui, bellbirds, kakas, red-crowned parakeets and the very rare yellowheads all in their natural wild environment. An albatross followed us on the boat across. This was my first ever attempt at birdwatching and I found it unbelievably relaxing. Hours just passed on this island without me noticing at all.
I had a very sociable time
Stewart Island Robins
Two Stewart Island robins seen on the nearby Ulva Island. on Stewart Island meeting three good people: an Oxbridge animal behaviour post-doc called Claire and two German girls travelling together: Astrid & Karen who were a bad influence on me in the pub.(!) The four of us all met up again in Dunedin for a fun night out including a visit to a terrible student club during freshers week.
Whilst on Stewart Island I walked the Raikura track - my third of NZ's "Great Walks". This is normally a three day 36km walk through temperate rainforest with lots of time for swimming at the beautiful beaches and birdwatching - but I only had a day so got round in 8 hours. I did find some time to appreciate the scenery, but the rush was good training for my forthcoming mountaineering course.
On Friday (2nd March) I took another scenic bus from Stewart Island along the Catlins Coastline to Dunedin. This is a very special section of costline with lots of wildlife, impressive cliffs, shipwreck sites & the famous "nuggets": impressive sea stacks off the coast at Nugget Point.
The scenery & coastline in the west & south of NZ's South Island has been continually awesome and I
The Nuggets
The Nuggets on the Catlins coast can't recommend a visit to it highly enough. However, today I head away from the coast and towards Queenstown, Wanaka and the mountains to see what they have to show me.
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