davidg
Well-known member
I didn't have a guide on the island itself and only had less than a full morning before I had to leave to get back to Invercargill (and perhaps consequently missed Yellowhead), though I had been in email contact with Ulva Goodwillie (she's named after the island!) and she suggested Peter Cox for my water taxi. Peter picked me up as early as allowed -- i.e. dawn because pre-dawn arrival and post-dusk stay on the island not permitted -- and returned to fetch me at the agreed time. People do see Kiwi there in the day pretty regularly, but not me :-(.
Another suggestion: if you are going through Invercargill then paying a visit to Ian and Jenny Gamble's place gives a really good chance of SI Fernbird. After I left Ulva by water taxi back to Halfmoon Bay, I flew to Invercargill where Ian met me at the airport and took me to their place. We walked through their private nature reserve and saw two or three Fernbirds, had a very pleasant afternoon tea at their B&B, and 2 hours later Ian dropped me back at the airport so I could fly to Christchurch and drive to Kaikoura in time for a pelagic the next morning (told you it was whistle-stop tour!). Again if I'd had time this would have been a great place to stay, and they are great people running a really worthy conservation project privately.
Ian
Hi Ian,
Time being tight (although not quite as tight as yours was!) I decided to book on guided tours as much as possible - something I would usually avoid. Hopefully I'll still have plenty of time to find some of my own birds whilst getting completely lost!
I googled Ian and Jenny Gamble and their B&B and reserve look fantastic - certainly somewhere I would have considered staying if I'd seen it earlier.
David