Australian Fires
During my Forest Service career I was fortunate that I didn’t do much forest fire work, and apart from controlled burns I can remember only one wildfire, and that was quite a small one. But they really weren’t my favorite occupation.
I’ve been appalled by the fires currently ravaging Australia. The video footage appearing on TV is hideous, with crowning fire, wildlife and habitat destruction , as well as the property damage and destruction.
Area Burnt
But the thing that really sheeted home the scale of it all was a comment that over a million hectares had burnt. That really got my attention, as its over 5 times the area of Stewart Island
Season Preparation
Iris and I have been busy getting our chores behind us in preparation for what’s looking like a busy season, Our central heating and domestic hat water system has been shifted to a new boiler room on the end of our back veranda, so no more crawling under the house to service it. And our old hot water cupboard has now almost 3 times the space and is all lined with white melamine board, cork tiles on the floor, and draft proof to boot. Much improved, and will make drying laundry just a doddle. We’ve also retired our old gas hob, and replaced it with an induction cooker. Something of a learning cure, but so far very happy, even more so thanks to a great Black Friday deal.
Spring Life
In amongst the chores I’ve been busy with Ulva tours, and of course the Spring cycle of our orchids and other blooms provides lots for our guests (and me) to enjoy.
The slide show is just a fraction of what we’ve seen. And like all seasons some have been prolific, while others I’ve really had to search for
Door are left open at Your Peril
We have several blackbirds who look on us as an easy “Touch” for extra rations, which they get outside and in the same place each time. But their cheek amazes our guests, as they’ll walk inside, often through two or three doors, past our dog to see whats on offer. And generally they show great reluctance to depart, always by walking and usually looking quite hurt that we don’t appreciate their indoor company.
We were over on Ulva the other day visiting with friends who own the private land. And they have similar issues with the local weka.
Weka on the prowl for treats at Ulva
A visiting blackbird
Our afternoon on Ulva with our friends was a good chance to catch up, as this was their first visit since last summer. The day was a bit wet, but cleared up as they took us back across the inlet. And as a bonus we had an escort of Bottlenosed Dolphins
I arrived on Stewart Island in 1969 as Forest Ranger. Since then I've fished commercially both in Fiordland and around Stewart Island then skippered our charter yacht in the same waters, and also down into the Southern Ocean. More recently we now have "Sails Ashore" B&B, and I also guide our guests and others on Ulva Island, introducing them to the natural world of Stewart island