February 13, 2011
Stewart Island is often referred to as the third island of this amazing country. Unfortunately, this was out last land call. It is a tender port and people who use wheelchairs and scooters were advised not to go a shore. When you get off the tender you walk up a very steep hill and continue on for a half mile before you come to Oban, the small village where the visitor center is located. It is the height of summer and it is 54 degrees and very windy. As Joe and I started walking up the hill, I spotted a sign to nature trails or treks as the Kiwis call them. One led to the town and we took it. It was beautiful on the well maintained trail. We could hear the bird calls and occasionally saw them. Joe found a small feather tinged in green and put it in his Panama hat from Ecuador. This trail was a good work out, it went up and down hills with various views of the ocean. Joe likes to count steps and by the time we got to town we had climbed 500 of them and were still alive. I told Joe this is a warm up for when we climb the Sydney harbor bridge.
New Zealand is marketing itself as being green. One of the things they are doing is getting rid of introduced predators, one of which is the possum, not to be confused with our opossum. This animal is about the size of a fat cat with a bushy tail. It is golden brown in color. They use its fur by mixing it with wool and make knits out of it in lots of colors .Possum fur fibers are hollow making them very warm. I bought a pair of gloves for $17 US.
Fiordland National Park is a UNESCO site known all over the world. We were here last 13 years ago and saw very little because of rain. They measure it in meters. It is scenic cruising at its best. We cruised through Dusky, Doubtful and Milford sounds and we had sun and blue skies it was awesome. As we passed Mitre peak, the most photographed in Milford Sound, the Captain slowed the ship and did a 365 degree turn. Joe and I were out on the bow at the time and could see the Bridge. Everyone started to clap. It was very moving.
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