More Animals!

Yesterday's trip to Ulva Island was another incredible animal adventure! I couldn't get pictures of everything, but we saw:
- More white-capped and Bullers albatrosses
- Little blue penguins in the water (the same type of penguins I saw in Tasmania)
- Variable oyster catchers
- Bell birds (gorgeous birdsong)
- Tui eating berries
- Kaka (parrot) tearing the bark off a tree to expose the soft wood to insects. The bugs are then attracted to the tree, and the Kaka then feeds off of the bugs. This is the only agriculture in the world known to be conducted by birds.
- Stewart Island variant of the weka (much smaller than main island wekas)
- Brown creeper
- Wood pigeon
- Fantails
- Yellow head mohua
- Red crown kakareke (type of very rare parakeet)
- Stewart Island robin
- Blue sac mushrooms (poisonous)
- A sleeping Kaka
- Grey warbler

After the boat trip return to Stewart Island, I read a bit and then went to the local pub for quiz night. Six of us girls finished around 6th place out of 20 teams. Not too shabby.

Now, I'm in bed, where I've been all morning and will be all day. I'm freezing!! The hostel I'm at is nice, but they only run the radiators two hours in the morning (7-9) and two in the evening (5-7). It takes about an hour for the radiator to heat up, so by the time they turn off the system, it hasn't had a chance to knock the chill off the air in my room. It's a high of about 12°C/54°F and low of 6°C/42°F with no heat. I actually slept with a hot water bottle last night, but it would've been nicer if I couldn't see my breath in the room. This morning one of the employees gave me a third blanket. I'm toasty now (at 12°C outside), but am absolutely dreading tonight, my last night here.

So long [for now] and thanks for all the BIRDS! ✌️Read more