Signs of Spring
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...
AWL- Absent with leave
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...
Winter Gardening
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...
The Rakiura Track as a Day Walk
The Rakiura Track as a Day Walk We have a two night minimum stay policy at Sails Ashore, and 14 years ago we seldom had longer stays. But the last couple of years we’ve noticed guests booking for 3 or 4 nights, and once 8 nights. We’ve never had (or I hope...
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...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