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Don't Leave Town Till You See The Country: Ulva Island
See! I knew it! Half of you guys overseas had been to Stewart Island way before I got there. Guess the old ad was right. Here it is in all of its cringey 80s glory:
Stewart Island/Rakiura is beautiful in its own right, but even better is the fact that it's only a short ferry ride away from Ulva Island, a predator-free bird sanctuary. Ulva was essentially the main point of my trip. I've always wanted to visit. The cute little ferry is a tourist attraction all by itself...
...but even niftier are the tickets.
And yes, those are real leaves.
Ulva looks like this to walk through: all tree-y and shady. And the sound of birdsong is absolutely magnificent. Although Stewart Island was busier than I'd expected, we walked on Ulva for several hours while rarely encountering any other visitors.
The view from the edges of the island ain't too shabby either.
Halfway round the island, the track comes out on a beach, and it was there we saw a weka with its fluffy adorable chick:
The weka was digging enthusiastically through the driftwood and leaf litter for insects, often tossing debris over the chick as it went. The chick remained totally chilled.
Weka are one of our many flightless birds, a combination that doesn't match too well with modern predators. In these predator-free sanctuaries, we get to experience New Zealand as it used to be, and it's amazing to behold (and to listen to). Thanks to another visitor who was a lot more knowledgeable about birds than I am, we were even able to identify the song of the rare yellowhead/mohua. What a privilege.
In this part of the world, the weather is always a crapshoot and you can count on rain around half the time. We were super lucky in December to hit a dry, sunny day for Ulva. It couldn't have been better. And the view as you go back to the ferry doesn't exactly make it easy to leave:
Sigh. I already want to go back.
Stewart Island/Rakiura is beautiful in its own right, but even better is the fact that it's only a short ferry ride away from Ulva Island, a predator-free bird sanctuary. Ulva was essentially the main point of my trip. I've always wanted to visit. The cute little ferry is a tourist attraction all by itself...
...but even niftier are the tickets.
And yes, those are real leaves.
Ulva looks like this to walk through: all tree-y and shady. And the sound of birdsong is absolutely magnificent. Although Stewart Island was busier than I'd expected, we walked on Ulva for several hours while rarely encountering any other visitors.
The view from the edges of the island ain't too shabby either.
Halfway round the island, the track comes out on a beach, and it was there we saw a weka with its fluffy adorable chick:
The weka was digging enthusiastically through the driftwood and leaf litter for insects, often tossing debris over the chick as it went. The chick remained totally chilled.
Weka are one of our many flightless birds, a combination that doesn't match too well with modern predators. In these predator-free sanctuaries, we get to experience New Zealand as it used to be, and it's amazing to behold (and to listen to). Thanks to another visitor who was a lot more knowledgeable about birds than I am, we were even able to identify the song of the rare yellowhead/mohua. What a privilege.
In this part of the world, the weather is always a crapshoot and you can count on rain around half the time. We were super lucky in December to hit a dry, sunny day for Ulva. It couldn't have been better. And the view as you go back to the ferry doesn't exactly make it easy to leave:
Sigh. I already want to go back.