The next morning we went to Glory Cove in the hope that Glynn and Dave would see some kiwi too (as they’d been out paddling). We wandered around the bush but didn’t see any

Warick and I got slightly separated as I was taking pictures – and we actually managed to get completely disoriented in about 10 mins of bush bashing – and ended up walking in circles before eventually finding our way out.. funny – but at the same time realised just how easy it would be to get lost!

We really only had a 1/2 day left as we were crossing back to Bluff in the evening.. so more fishing was done so that we could bring some cod back up to ChCh. In all we probably caught about $400+ of cod between us over the week! The birds below are called Mollymawks – they’re the smallest (I believe) in the Albatross Family.

Slept on the boat that evening – and then back to ChCh on Thursday evening. You can see the deckchairs we sat in the van on in the last pic!

So – Thanks to Dennis, Wayne (skipper), Warick, Glynn, Dave, Gordon, Barry and Lance for a really excellent trip.

We had anchored that night in North Arm. And early the next morning five of us set off on a hike. It was only 6km or so – but took ages as the track frequently died. Well, track is a bit of an overstatement really. It was just a series of plastic tags (mostly not the orange reflectors) running off into the bush, which we followed in the hope that they were going the right way!

At 11am ish we stopped for lunch on the beach. Again we saw kiwi prints in the sand.. They are about – just don’t like coming out in the day light.

And I’m afraid that’s all I can show you of a kiwi! We did see one as we tramped on to meet the others in Chew Tobacco Bay but he was way to quick to photo. Funniest looking creature though – they run as if they’re permanently about to topple over forwards…

Back to the pub again in the evening. I headed off after posting some postcards, and went to the DOC info centre and watched a video on kiwis. They’re actually pretty vicious little creatures – and extremely territorial.. Still, a good way to round out my first (and maybe last) day of seeing a kiwi in the daylight in the wild. Great.

I spent today being lazy. Finished Einsteins Dreams – an excellent book which I can highly recommend. I also got most of the way through 1700 miles in an open boat. It’s a story which involved one of Dennis’ great uncles. A ship left Perth and sank (it was carrying an odd material which didn’t allow the bilges to work). The crew then made it 1700 miles to the Mauritius Islands. Also got quite a few postcards written..

Did try my hand at fishing though (really easy here!!) and actually caught a blue cod.. even tried filleting it too – though I was pretty bad at that. Dennis and Warick went on a bit of a paddle up the coast (4 hours or something!!)

This day we took the boat down to The Lords River. It’s a really beautiful and remote (though we saw the most people here!!) part of the Island. Well, ish, it’s certainly partly off the beaten track of most people as there are no tracks which go there.

Geologically it’s pretty interesting, as there was uplifting on the West Side of the island, and so these river valleys became flooded – so it’s quite a beautiful series of sounds.

Mick, that last picture of the Stripy Polypro is just for you ;)

We did meet some hunters down here though – the only people we met the whole trip actually. It’s open season all year on deer here… as they’re not wanted on Stewart Island – not being native ‘n all. The hunters had been having quite a lot of luck – and they gave us a large amount of fresh venison (and some Paua we’d caught) dinner that night was delicious! The hunters – or some of them – were staying in a shelter pictured below..

There was supposed to be good fishing at the creek. Lance – a really cool Minnesotan who came on the trip tried his hand – but I think the fish hid under the rock and eventually broke the line.

Dave and I both had a quick climb up the mast.. high enough for me without ropes! Still, a good place to take a picture!

The next morning we made it into the sea kayaks! The there were three small islands in the bay which we moored in – Faith Hope and Charity – two are in the pic below

So we rowed across to Ulva Island. It’s a DOC operated island and they have made it into a bird sanctuary. See, what you have to know / remember is that NZ is a bloody long way from anywhere. Before humans arrived the only mammals were bats!.. which is why flightless birds like the kiwi were able to develop in relative peace (except for the gigantic birds of prey…). When humans arrived, we did NZ the singular favour of bringing rats, ferrets, possums and stoats – to name just a few. These – and every other introduced species – loved New Zealand… and flourished.. but at a huge cost to the local flora and fauna.

Hmm… David Bellamy watch out. Anyway – DOC made Ulva Island (and a few others) into sanctuaries for wildlife – there are no predators on the island, even rats which swim across are caught and killed.

Dennis was great – he pointed out so many birds and different trees – twas like having our own personal tour guide.

After Ulva we kayaked on down (through the clearest water ever – the seas are just crystal) to Abrahams Bay, to climb all the up 352m elevation at the top of Pryse Peak. Crampons and ice axes were left behind as we were aiming for lightness and speed…

Gordon had caught a Barracuda on the paddle down! They have teeth (and aren’t good to eat either)

The view from the top was actually really rewarding.. It was kinda funny, when we got to the top it was still quite thick scrub – with no view at all.. but some clever person had left a ladder tied to a tree – so we were able to get the views..

Finally – happy birthday MB :)