RAKIURA STEWART ISLAND - PART FOUR

 I was underwhelmed by the response to this travel series except for one enthusiastic and generous contributor. Thanks Tim.

The others have been true to their nature. Robert started off well showing some interest but then 'ablated' into some witter about the bible. He then attempted to copy this series with a rather limp and geographically and grammatically challenged post about a tiny island in Wellington harbour. Maybe this is his new modernist thinking. Richard rejected modernism (his fashion sense is a dead giveaway for that) and chose minimalism to go with his mockery. He attempted to divert attention to some gig he's at this afternoon - probably at an old folks home or some other place where they strap the inmates guests down.

Anyway, I've decided to wrap the series up with this, the final post. PART FOUR - FLORA AND FAUNA.

FLORA

As I showed in the previous posts Rakiura Stewart Island has some great examples of pristine native bush, ferns, trees and plants. I guess the relative isolation has helped along with the difficulty of access to many of the main island's smaller islands. The bush on these by and large hasn't been burnt off and so there are great examples of large and very old native trees - rimu, totara, miro, rata etc.

Flora McKenzie

No, not her but she has an interesting history. See: FLORA MCKENZIE

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The last one isn't strictly Stewart Island flora. It's a 'Christmas tree' sculpture on the deck of the Church Hill restaurant in Oban.

FAUNA

With many parts of Rakiura Stewart Island being a bird sanctuary with an aggressive predator eradication programme in place it's not surprising that the area is known for its abundant birdlife.

Here's a list of most of them:

RARE ENDEMIC only found at Ulva Island

South Island Saddleback (Tieke)
Yellowhead (Mohoua)

ENDEMIC present at Ulva Island & Stewart Island
Brown Creeper (Pipipi)
Stewart Island Weka
Tui
New Zealand Bellbird (Korimako, Makomako)
South Island Tomtit
New Zealand Fantail
South Island Kaka
New Zealand Pigeon (Kereru, Kukupa)
Morepork (Ruru)
Yellow-crowned Parakeet (Kakariki) 
South Island Rifleman (Titipounamu) 
Stewart Island Robin (Toutouwai) 
Stewart Island Brown Kiwi (Tokoeka) 
Red-crowned Parakeet (Kakariki)
Grey Warbler (Riroriro)

Seabirds
Yellow-eyed Penguin - ENDEMIC 
Fiordland Crested Penguin 
Little Blue Penguin 
New Zealand White-capped Albatross 
Salvin's Albatross 
Sooty Shearwater 
Brown Skua 
Cape Petrel 
Northern Giant Petrel 

We saw quite a few of these but alas, no kiwi. That wasn't a biggie though as we have kiwi in the bush around where we live and there are numerous kiwi release initiatives throughout the year. I've been fortunate to hold a kiwi once when I was involved in a conservation programme with one of the wine brands I marketed being a sponsor.

I took lots of photographs using my phone (my Canon digital camera was munted years ago by a dolphin) and will use some as screensavers. Here are some samples.

The NZ White Capped Albatross seen in the above pics followed our boat (destined for the kiwi adventure) mistaking us for a fishing boat. It was dusk and the sky was dramatic.

Weka

Stewart Island Robin

Mother S.I. Saddleback feeding her chick

Another Stewart Island Robin

Weka from a family of them that lived on the beach. They want you to lift up rocks for them so they can catch the sand crabs underneath.

Kereru

Kaka on our balcony

Another Kereru

That's all. Thank you for your time.