Stewart Island

Oh where do I start? What a dreadful day! We got to Bluff in plenty of time to catch the ferry across Foveaux Straight. Even thought there was a wind blowing and a bit of rain, no one at check-in mentioned that the crossing may be a bit rough though. The crossing was dreadful – three to four metre swells and plenty of people sick including all of us except Colin. The kindness of the staff and in particular one of the passengers was unbelievable. This man watched carefully for anyone being sick and was there in an instant to help out. At one point as I was being sick into a bag, this man was holding a damp cloth to my forehead. We could not believe that someone we didn’t know, who wasn’t even being paid, could be so unbelievably kind to a bunch of sick strangers.

We arrived on the Island to a steady drizzle of rain and walked the few tens of metres to the Visitor Centre to check in for our bus tour. This was very pleasant and we got to see a large amount of the inhabited part of the Island as well as hear a number of anecdotes from our driver/guide including that there are only 28 kms of road on the Island and there is one sole charge policeman whose main responsibility is to co-ordinate search and rescue. This photo was taken at Maui's anchor chain

After this tour, we were all feeling hungry so headed for the fish ‘n chip caravan – one side take out, the other side dine in – all two tables! The blue cod was delicious and we really enjoyed it. Then it was back out into the drizzle! We headed for the little aquarium which was really interesting and made more so by the man who owns it..

Back out into the rain (by this time my towel which I was using as a raincoat was soaking) and down the wharf for our semi-submersible trip. It was rather an interesting boat but not an enjoyable trip made worse by seven little “darlings” who were out of control. We made a wrong choice on this one and should have gone on the Patterson Cove trip where we would have seen more and had more enjoyable company.

We debated staying over, but warmth and a cooked meal waiting back in Invercargill won and we waited to check in for our return ferry trip which was slightly better than the outgoing one.

I was really sick and so sorry that it had been a dreadful day as I was so looking forward to it. We have been astounded at the friendliness and kindness shown by people we have met on the South Island