Up early and pack a bag for Stewart Island. This rainbow was spectacular! From one side of the horizon to the other, a complete bow and a faint second bow as well. I have not worked out how to take panorama pictures on my camera yet. I felt sorry for the couple on deckchairs with an umbrella to shelter them from the misty rain watching the sun come up over the horizon - because behind them was this!!
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Notice the flax dividers in the camping ground
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The trip down to Bluff is quite easy - but buying diesel there is not!
We board the catamaran - the weather is calm and cloudy. The sky is steel grey, the sea is elephant grey and the hills of Stewart Island are graphite grey. The trip takes about an hour and then we walk around to our accommodation at the back packers. There is a bed. It is a wirewove - probably older than we are!
This is a picture of the wharf and the harbour at Oban. The museum is quite small and reflects the shipping and seafood interests of the island. This model is of the Wairua which plied Foveaux Strait for many years, and then Duncan found himself on it going to Tokelau on it for one of his Voso vision trips. From all accounts it seemed to induce seasickness in all that travelled on her! The catamarans are so much better.
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Half Moon Bay
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This is the predator proof fence to stop vermin from getting from the town into the wild
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We decide to go on a bus trip to introduce us to the island and Maia is our guide. Soon we can conceive of the bustling boatbuilding, milling town of previous years. She surprises me by says the population is only 385. Maia's interest is botanical and she tells us about the flora and fauna as we go on a number of short walks. Maia had spent time studying the mosses of the island - during which she tramped at "about 200m per hour" (My kind of speed!)
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The mountains in the background are uninhabited.
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Maia and the maps showing the small settlements and the huge about of undisturbed land
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When Maui fished up the North Island he used Stewart Island (Rakiura) as his anchor stone. This symbolic anchor chain gives a chance to retell this legend, and you can see the other end of the anchor chain as you leave Bluff.
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Nice sandy beaches.
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This type of cobweb was common throughout the South Island
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Large cray pots and a cage for catching and keeping the blue cod fresh
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The predator proof fence really gives the kiwi a chance - the estimates range from 20,000 to 30,000 of them live here
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We have dinner at the South Seas Hotel and then as darkness falls we board Wild Fire for the trip to the Neck for a kiwi spotting trip. It is a 40 minute walk over the saddle in the dark on a forest track. I manage to keep up most of the time. We walk along the beach and soon its torches off and only the guide keeps his on, and we see her (longer and more curved beak) eating the sandhoppers. We follow her along the beach until she comes to a little stream and she wades in up to her "knees", lays her beak in the water and scoops up the water and lets it drain into her mouth. We have a cuppa and a gingernut on the way home. We talk to a young Netherland couple who say how rare it is in Europe to be able to see native animals and birds. We are so lucky.
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Abalone Duo for Duncan - the creamy slices were far better than the paua fritters
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Blue Cod for me - one of the fish I really go for. I think the batter helps!
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This is really weird. If you move your face closer and closer to the screen at about 4 inches you will see the grainy outline of the kiwi in the centre.
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Kiwi Tracks in the sand
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At the stream - her head is bent forward as she scoops up the water. Go in close again.
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