Ulva Island Critters
Ulva Island Critters My knowledge of insects is minimal to say the least, and apart from tiny moths, we don’t often see them as we walk through the forest. But then again with so many hungry insect eating birds that is probably not so surprising. But we do see...
Stewart Island Autumn Fungi
I’ve never seen so many puff balls in our lawn, and although not there yet, Ulva Island looks as if we may have another “Fungi Year”. The last being in 2003, when the forest was alive with species.
Northern Stewart Island Scenic Flight
North Stewart Island Scenic Flight Last year in late February we chartered Stewart Island Flights for a scenic journey around Stewart Island. see blog post here. We took good friends from Switzerland with us. While we had intended to circumnavigate the whole Island...
A Very Busy February at Sails Ashore
A Very Busy February at Sails Ashore My apologies for my lack of posts this month. We have been very busy with guests and tours, and I’ve just not been able to find the time to post. But finally today I can do a little catch up. It’s raining steadily, so I...
Stewart Island Sizzles
Stewart Island Sizzles This has been the driest summer I have seen in 49 years of living on Stewart Island. We really started to notice our reduced rainfall and high temperatures in early December, and by mid December realised that if we wanted to save our Vegie...
Stewart Island Vacation, A guests photo essay
A Week on Stewart Island Recently we hosted a group of friend for several days. They certainly never let the grass grow under their feet while here. As well as our packaged Ulva Island Tour they did most of the local walks, including Ackers Point, Little River/Garden...
Stewart Island Big Dry
La Nina Continues to Impact My posts of December 2 and December 11 about our dry summer are still relevant. The 24 mm of rain I mentioned in my second post was the last significant rainfall we’ve had. Since then just “dribbles”. And just before...
History Revealed
Threads of History As well as being our accommodation and tours business’s public face, our web site is also a place for us to indulge our interest in our Island home. The obvious sections on birds, orchids and fungi and Ulva Island are easy to spot. Perhaps a...
Stewart Island Drought Broken
Stewart Island Drought Broken. Well at least for a few days at least. Over the last couple of days we have had 24 mm of rain.
About Me
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 