As anticipated, the seas were rough again as soon as we left Port Chalmers yesterday afternoon ๐ The rocking and rolling continued overnight until we reached the waters surrounding Stewart Island this morning, at the very bottom of New Zealand’s South Island.
After dinner last night, it was way too rough to stay upright, so we retreated to our stateroom and fired up Netflix — sometimes survival mode calls for streaming! ๐This morning, we took the water shuttle into the tiny village of Oban on Stewart Island.
You can see Oban in the center of the photo below. The photo was taken in the afternoon, after the sun made an appearance!Oban has a population of only about 300 residents and serves as the gateway to Rakiura National Park. The rare kฤkฤ parrot thrives here, and it’s also one of the best places to spot the very elusive kiwi. Unfortunately for us, kiwis are nocturnal, so no sightings this trip! We were fortunate to see kฤkฤs in the wild during a previous trip to Wellington. Photo courtesy of Google. I did, however, spot a kererลซ (aka New Zealand pigeon) perched in a tree.
It took us all of 15 minutes to explore the village, and thanks to the less-than-inviting weather, we passed on hiking into the park. Some photos from around the village. I spotted some nice blooming Asiatic Lillies.
Back onboard for lunch, I enjoyed another delicious locally sourced fish — trevally (aka araara). Always nice to sample the regional specialties!Tomorrow, we’ll be cruising through Fiordland National Park, including Milford Sound. A naturalist speaker boarded yesterday and will be providing commentary during our transit — should be fascinating.
Details in tomorrow’s blog… ๐
