Kayaks, Kakas, and Khakis, Oh My! A Stewart Island Sampler

A couple of weekends ago, we went down to Stewart Island. It is a remote island off the southern coast of NZ. Rebecca and I went Friday. Aaron came down Saturday morning. I headed out Sunday, and the Whitings came back Monday. The weather cooperated at first, so Rebecca and I snuck in some kayaking first-thing. After that, we all had to brave the rain and cold to check out all the island had to offer, which is primarily coastline, forest, and birds.

1. Kayaks!  We kayaked all over Horseshoe Bay. It was cold, but still fun.

Nice outfit, huh? boardshorts and boots plus a rainjacket and stocking cap... ya gotta do what ya gotta do sometimes.

 Rebecca was much more put-together.                               Nice view!



2. Kakas!  These awesome birds will likely get their own post sooner or later. They are apparently somewhat rare, but at the house we rented for the weekend, they will basically knock on your door and beg for you to come out and play (feed them peanuts).

      Hello!?!?  Anyone Home?  We're Hungry!!!!

They warmed up to us after the first day, and would hop over on our arms to have a snack

The first night we were there, I put food on my shoulder and put my hand on the railing, trying to get it to walk up my arm to eat. I thought I'd make a little bridge to trick it into sitting on my arm. It bit me HARD out of frustration. But all it needed was time. It just hopped over onto my arm the next day.

Eating out of the palm of her hand......

3. Khakis!  This one is kind of a trick. My second choice for Item number 3 was 'Kiwi', but we didn't actually see one while on Stewart Island, unfortunately.(so I didn't have a photo to go along with it).  Stewart Island is a popular place to view Kiwi in the wild, but it just didn't happen for us. Maybe another time. So to round out our post, I'll leave you with this photo, in which I am wearing khakis. The more important part of this photo is the demonstration that if you scratch the ground in the forest on Stewart Island, you will attract the little robins. I guess they appreciate the help with the heavy excavating. They'll come right up to you to see if you have uncovered an easy meal for them.