When leaving Queenstown, we also left behind Rebecca who was heading straight for Dunedin and on to the North Island. Good times with Rebecca, hope you enjoy your skydive in Taupo!
To get to Stewart Island you have to take a ferry from a port town called Bluff, but since there is NOTHING THERE (not even a bank), we decided to stay the night in Invercargill (ya that is the real name...) and just drive to Bluff in the morning. Invercargill is actually a pretty nice city, not very scenic but big enough and has some things going on. Andy decided not to go to Stewart Island, and drive up the coast instead and pick us up when we got back (turned out to be a good idea, further explanation later). So Konni and I booked our ferry for the next day ($132 round trip...ughhhh, we could have gotten some standby seats on a small plane but we wanted to go the next day and they didn't have any left).
The next morning Andy drove us to Bluff and we got on the ferry to Stewart Island at around 9:30am I think (we actually almost missed it trying to get cash in Bluff, which you can't do unless you have a NZ bank account...and there is NO bank on Stewart Island..). We arrived on Stewart Island an hour later, the ferry goes really fast too, in the main town called Oban. Most of Stewart Island is made up of National Parks and wildlife reserves so the town of Oban, where most of the residents of Stewart Island live (around 400), is extremely small and quiet and situated in Halfmoon Bay. Everyone is very friendly though and says hi to you and gives you suggestions on what you should see and do and eat.
As soon as we got there we went to the information centre to find out what we should do, since we didnt want to do the Raikura 2-3 day hike or the Mason Bay 2-3 day hike. After getting some info and checking into our hostel (OH...there is also no phone reception on Stewart Island..but I guess if you just yell loud enough you can find eachother anyway) we decided to do the Ackers Point Lighthouse walk, which was pretty nice. It took us along the coast of Oban, Lonnekers Beach, Leask Bay, Ackers Stone House, Harrold Bay and we also stopped at Ringaringa Beach on the way back. We then took a walk up to Observation Rock, where we saw Golden Bay and the Paterson Inlet; all in all a pretty successful day of walking and we had even more in store for the next day.
(Sidenote: The hostel we were staying in SUCKED, DO NOT STAY AT Stewart Island Backpackers. Dirty kitchen/showers/bathroom, terrible beds, but they do let you store your things there for free for the day after checking out..)
Konni and I booked a water taxi to Ulva Island, which is a bird sanctuary island, and a shuttle to Lee Bay where we would walk back to town from via Horseshoe Track. We got on our water taxi at around 8:15am and set off to Ulva Island (approx. 10 mins away). Oh my this was a beautiful place and an amazing experience. We saw SO MANY different birds, and they all came right up to you because its a bird sanctuary so they aren't used to predators I guess; really cool stuff. We saw Stewart Island Wekas, South Island Saddlebacks (Tieke), Tomtits (Ngiru-Ngiru), Stewart Island Robins (Toutouwai), Brown Creeper (Pipipi), Tuis, Kakas, Fantails (Piwakawaka), New Zealand Pigeons (Kereru), and Bellbirds... no Riffleman, Parakeets, or KIWIs though =( (see all the pics and a video of Bellbirds singing on Flickr).
We walked around the whole island (at least the parts we were allowed to go). So we saw Sydney Cove, Boulder Beach, and West End Beach, there was a whole historical walk section with old buildings and history and such, but I didn't take too much time to learn about that, I was more interested in the birds. Although we didn't get to see a Kiwi (there are only 30-40 on Ulva Island) I'm pretty sure we heard them, which was cool because they make the weirdest noise; and unlike the Kiwi on the mainland these ones come out during the day as well.
After we were satisfied with our stash of bird pics and videos we headed back to Stewart Island to do some MORE walking (if you couldn't tell, the only thing to do on Stewart Island is walk around and peep the beauty and birds). We got our shuttle to Lee Bay where The Anchor is located, there is an anchor on Stewart Island and the chain is located in Bluff, and started our journey back. We decided not to do the Garden Mound Track because the mud looked too intense, so we just took Lee Bay Road back to Horseshoe Bay and then on to the Horseshoe Point Track. Walking up there was quite nice, we got a good view of Horseshoe Bay, Dead Man Beach, Bragg Bay and Butterfield Beach, and then just mosied back into town to eat then catch our ferry back to the mainland.
My time on Stewart Island was short, but well worth it. It is definitely one of the more beautiful places in New Zealand, and a much needed change after spending so much time in Queenstown.
After that it was back to Invercargill for the night and a drive up the Catlins Coast in the morning.
Peace & Love
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