by Peter | Oct 10, 2018 | Blog Posts
Chatham Islands Holiday Some 500 miles to the east of New Zealand lie the Chatham Islands. Iris & I have always wanted to visit and this year we’ve managed to spend a week there. So this is the 3rd day of our visit The pins and text to the right...
by Peter | Oct 7, 2018 | "Sails" Tours, Blog Posts
Chatham Islands Holiday Some 500 miles to the east of New Zealand lie the Chatham Islands. Iris & I have always wanted to visit and this year we’ve managed to spend a week there. So this is the second post in the series Our 2nd Day September...
by Peter | Oct 3, 2018 | "Sails" Tours, Blog Posts
Chatham Islands Holiday Some 500 miles to the east of New Zealand lie the Chatham Islands. Iris & I have always wanted to visit and this year we’ve managed to spend a week there. So this and the next 6 posts will be a daily resume of what we saw and did...
by Peter | Sep 24, 2018 | Blog Posts
Sprung Spring Spring is definitely amongst us, with our first spuds through and hoed up. Tulips are looking a picture, and daffodils as well. But some things are a bit out of kilter. I haven’t noticed any clematis, but the bush lawyer is flowering quite well,...
by Peter | Aug 31, 2018 | "Sails" Tours
Hiking Trails around Stewart Island When I came to Stewart Island back in 1969 as Ranger one of my projects was to complete the North West Circuit hiking trail. This is an 8 day hike which takes you up the east coast of the Island past Christmas Village, Long Harry...
by Peter | Aug 22, 2018 | "Sails" Tours
Kowhai Lane Lodge Renovations Kowhai Lane Lodge was built around 40 years ago as a private home. Back then double glazed windows were pretty rare to non existent, although wall insulation was becoming common. The weather board was a proprietary product, really just a...
by Peter | Aug 17, 2018 | "Sails" Tours
Planning for the Future In hindsight one of the things I have most benefited from was the parts of my Forest Service training which focused on planning and management. And also how great outcomes have come out of what can only be seen as an act of faith in years...
by Peter | Aug 16, 2018 | "Sails" Tours
Signs of Spring ??? Spring does not officially arrive until 1st September, but things are looking distinctly spring like around Sails Ashore. Fuchsia has been in flower for 2 or 3 weeks, and this morning I checked the lawn and garden soil temperature, and both were at...
by Peter | Aug 4, 2018 | "Sails" Tours
AWL- Absent with Leave No, I haven’t dropped off the planet, but I have been away for several weeks in Dunedin, undergoing follow up treatment from surgery I had 18 months ago. Home again, and all seems to be well, and my grateful thanks to the staff at Dunedin...
by Peter | May 31, 2018 | "Sails" Tours
Winter Gardening No, we haven’t dropped off the planet, nor indeed off Stewart Island. We’ve been busy, heads down bottoms up catching up on all sorts of chores after our last guests at Kowhai Lane & Sails Ashore left. Island Pessimism Islanders have...
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