Back from Stewart Island

Last night we took the late ferry back from Stewart Island and had a fantastic farewell from at least 5 albatross and tons of sooty shearwaters gliding just beyond the stern, the sun setting through clouds. It was blowing a gale all day and the seas were wild, but the little high speed cat just plowed right through it no prob. Hard to leave the island though, what a great place. Our only complaint was the chilly wind that we had towards the end, made us forget that this is supposed to be summer. But this was a south wind coming right up from Antarctica--first stop, Stewart Island!

Jay crosses a swing bridge on the Raikura Track

The Rakiura track was everything we hoped it would be. The first day was mostly along the coast, through beaches and forests and along some high cliffs that showed off the crystal clear blue water below. This was very hard for me as I was wishing I could be underwater. But the forests were just as awe inspiring...plenty of big rimu trees (one of several of NZ's podocarp species) and some flowering rata (produces a nice little red flower). I tripped a lot because I couldn't stop just staring at the canopy. The next two days were mostly in the forest and much of the trail was narrow boardwalk to keep you out of the mud. Luckily we didn't encounter too much rain. We really wanted to spot a kiwi, and even got up early the last day to increase our chances, but no luck. We did hear them though, and saw lots of footprints on the beach.

Julie points out the kiwi tracks we found on the beach

Yesterday we took a boat ride over to a little island called Ulva Island where they have successfully eliminated all pests (this took years) and re-introduced a number of rare or uncommon birds. We spent most of the day there and had a great time, spotted many different birds except for kiwi. At one point we were walking through the forest and spotted a kaka, a kind of parrot, on a tree limb. We stared at him and he stared back at us, then decided he would fly over for closer inspection and landed on a tree fern just feet from Julie's head. We checked each other out for a bit and then he started climbing up a vine, mouthing it and crunching it in typical parrot fashion.

Now we're in Queenstown in an e-cafe listening to irritating e-cafe musak. But tomorrow we are planning on heading out on another 3 to 4 day hike called the Greenstone track that is said to have some of the best trout fishing around. I got lucky and won a sort of angler's lottery to fish the Greenstone. And when we write again Julie's folks will be here!

A note to picture viewers: Julie filled her picasa account and is too cheap to pay to increase her storage. BUT - she had another gmail account for her little soap-making hobby called Global Scents. Please note that now she is uploading photos to a picasa account under this name. The new link is up for that account. There are lots of new pics up - scroll down in Jay's feb. album and look at the new album in Julie's globalscents account!