150 Years of Polish Settlement in New Zealand
150 Years of Polish Settlement in Southern New Zealand…….My Involvement
I know it’s an odd subject for our blog on Stewart Island, so perhaps a little background …..
Stewart Island, Sahara of the Southern Ocean
And odd heading, but we are really dry. Stewart Island is considered temperate rainforest., And we do get dry periods, But I’ve never seen an October so dry
Spring Orchids and Snow
Ulva Island visit. Lots of Saddlebacks, yellowheads, tui, bellbirds and robins. And we found the first of our orchids starting to develop blooms. Dancing Spider Orchids are our first to appear.
Red Admirals and Power
And one of the signs of spring was our first Red Admiral butterfly. We generally don’t get many in our garden at Sails Ashore, but they are a colourful addition to the spring blooms
On the Way to Spring
Looking out our kitchens bay window this morning onto a frost lawny, an air temperature of 4 degrees after an overnight low of 2 degrees its great to think spring (official spring anyway)
First Frost
First Frost Sails Ashore is pretty high up on the hill under Observation Rock, looking out over Halfmoon Bay. And so don’t get as many frosts as down lower in the village. In fact we generally seem to average maybe 4 mornings a year when I can walk outside, and...
First Snow
First Snow of the Winter for Stewart Island. And I hope the last. I do NOT like snow at all.
Paul Klemick & POHOS
Paul Klemick & the Polish Heritage of Otago & Southland (POHOS) An odd post from me this morning, as what on earth does Stewart Island and this posts heading have in common?? Like all the best stories it’s a bit complex but here goes. A good...
Moving into Winter
We are now a few days into winter at Sails Ashore, though apart from a handful of miserable days it does not really seem like winter.
Community Power on Stewart Island
Since we’ve commissioned our off grid power supply at Sails Ashore I’ve had several Islanders ask how it was going
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