Jan 28 (yesterday for me)

Arrived at Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island last night. The land is hilly, like much of New Zealand, with the highest point reaching 3200 feet.

After dinner, we went searching for kiwis. Kiwis are a flightless birds that are unique to New Zealand. They are an odd looking bird. Their body is like small volleyball (about 8" in diameter), their legs are at least as big as a man's fingers (really big for a bird), while their head, on the other hand, is smaller than a tennis ball. Their beak is really long, and they are the only bird with nostrils on the end of their beak, which helps them smell out food buried in the sand. The feathers on their body look like over-gelled hair, while the feathers on their head looks like wild hair, almost like he stuck a foot in an electrical socket.

We saw two kiwis really well on the beach and several more in the woods on they way there and back. Our guide put a torch (i.e. Flashlight) on the birds, and each let us with them watch them eat sandhoppers for 30 minutes it so. As long as we stayed back and were quiet, they completely ignored us.

The other highlight for me was the stars. We took a 45 minute boat trip to a remote island to search for the kiwi. So once it got dark, the sky was filled with more stars than I have ever seen. We could see the Southern Cross and an upside-down Orion. But the best was our ability to see the milky way and two Magellanic clouds that are actually other solar systems, only visible in the southern hemisphere. At one point I also saw a satellite pass overhead.

This morning we visited Ulva Island, which is a protected habitat. We hiked for a couple of hours, stopping frequently to look at birds and plants. We saw New Zealand parrots on a branch, then one flew away for food, while the other hopped into a knothole in the tree to care for the chicks we could hear. We also saw New Zealand robins (they look different from ours at home) and they were pretty fearless of us - at one point they jumped on someone's shoe.

We had a picnic on the beach before leaving. There were some weka birds nearby. They are aggressive when the food comes out - obviously they are used to getting tourist crumbs. There were two adult birds and one started chasing the other off, both had their feathers ruffled up running down the beach (I now get the term "ruffled feathers"). Of course, this did not keep the chased bird away for long. Pretty soon, the chased bird crept back, and the bigger bird chased him off again. They must have put on this show at least four times before the chased bird found other hikers to distract him. Then junior weka came out and the mama who "won" helped him find food. Once Bill (Margaret's husband) turned away for a minute and the weka jumped up on his picnic take seat to steal his sandwich. Bill rescued it just in time.

In the afternoon we went on cruise around various islands. The islands are filled with rata trees, which, I think, makes the islands look like clumps of broccoli.

We saw several species of albatross. Albatross are the great gliders. The other birds flutter (?) wings often, but the albatross' wing span is so great (3-5 feet across) that they can not use them for extended periods. They are expert at catching the wind, which allows them to soar fast and far with little effort (they can soar for hours without beating their wings).

One took off beside the boat - it was a trip to watch. They paddle their feet, start moving their wings, and appear to walk on the water for several steps before they finally take off - just after they lift off the water, they remind me of a cartoon character that steps off a cliff, feet moving in the air, but not getting anywhere. Their landing is a little better, but still more clumsy than other birds. However when they get in the air and start soaring, they are gorgeous to watch.

We also saw both the blue and yellow-eyed penguin and several seals. Some of the younger seals were playing in water, diving, and doing back flips. They could have been mistaken for dolphins except they did not have the dorsal fin.

Interesting fact day 8: the kiwi female will lay an egg about 1/3 the size of her body and takes up 66% of their internal cavity (ouch). The male will incubate (sit on) the egg for more than 2 months.