Stewart Island rocks my world
Today we’re camping on Stewart Island - it’s an island south of the South Island and part of a wildlife preserve. We’ve seen a TON of wild parrots here!!!
We saw Mom’s cousins Nancy and Tom, and they let us stay the night, fed us a GREAT meal and let us pet their sheep!
Yesterday we stayed in Bluff and climbed up the mountain here. Lou’s forcing me to get in shape fast! We look forward to eating Bluff oysters when we get back there.
Lisa, you MUST come here. The bird life is truly amazing!! Seeing the parrots was worth the $110 round trip ferry ticket.
Will check in again as soon as we get more internet!!
Ah, don’t give her any ideas, we’re both already on vacation withdrawal with no end in sight!
Which is better? Fried or grilled parrot?
Ha ha, Jason! (Sarcasm oozing!) Wild penguins AND parrots, I’m super jealous now! Those are two that will be a challenge to add to my life bird list beyond the zoo or pet store. Glad you’re having a blast and thanks for the frequent updates.
Ciao,
Lisa
Hi Lisa and Jason!
Really, getting here has been the expensive part, and since the program paid for that, we’ve been able to do things pretty cheaply by camping and not eating out. This place is amazingly well set up for camping - particularly of the car variety, as we are doing. You can also rent really nice campervans that more than make up for the extra cost.
New Zealand is all about the birdlife - I’ve seen lots and lots of birds I’d never even heard of! Our personal favorite is the tui, though we really loved the parrots, which are properly called kaka. Today we also saw the mountain parrots, which are kea, though we only caught a brief glimpse. I think we’ll try to see the kiwi in the zoo - seeing them in the wild is a challenge because they have a very good sense of smell, and we’ve been going quite a few days with no shower.
It’s been the best vacation so far - you guys need to make this your next big one!!