To Stewart Island, a friend and Kiwis.

We drove from our Invercargill B&B to Bluff for the ferry to Oban, on Stewart Island. In Bluff we passed old harbour -side “New Zealand Refrigeration Co.” and “New Zealand Shipping Co.” Buildings and I realised that these were almost certainly places that my dad’s grandfather had been familiar with in the days when he was involved with shipping frozen meat from here and the Pacific islands to the UK, last century.

The one-hour crossing of the Foveaux Strait in a catamaran was fantastically rough with much sickness aboard, but constantly watching the horizon kept us unaffected. A few Sooty Shearwaters and a couple of probable Salvin’s Mollymawks seen on the journey but the view was mostly utterly obscured by the sea spray.

After a very enjoyable meal with old Scottish friend and bird artist Derek Robertson, who happens to be travelling in NZ at the same time as us, he and I joined a night time Kiwi trip with the company “Beaks and Feathers”. We drove to the island’s aerodrome runway and walked in total darkness except for our guide’s infra-red torch.

Rain fell a bit but generally the skies cleared and the night sky was fantastic. The Milky Way visible and Orion upside down compared with our view from home.

At least 7 Kiwis performed and possibly 12 sightings all told. Birds of different ages probing the soft mossy ground for food. One walked over my foot. A brilliant experience. This was an “extra” for me as Derek had acquired a spare ticket. Our own expedition is planned for two days’ time. I enjoyed watching the spectacle of these incredible birds doing their thing.Read more