today we went to ulva island, a little island in half moon bay that is a sanctuary for new zealand native flora and fauna that are becoming scare and endangered. it was only a 10-15 minute boat ride with talisker charters. we arrived perhaps just before 10:30am at post office bay during low tide and left when it was high tide, a noticeable difference. there is a little shelter there with brochures for a donation so i picked one up. immediately we were greeted by a weka. they are very curious creatures and are not scared of humans. accidentally i took a photo with flash. i apologized to the weka, don't know if it bothered him or not but he didn't act any different after the flash. turns out that the flash photo was the best one i took of him.

low tide arrival

high tide departure

weka that greeted us to ulva island

we walked the looping track, first to west end beach (where we just admired the view and put our hands in the water), then boulder beach (had lunch standing up while a weka circled us and practically begged like a dog for food), then to sydney cove and flagstaff point. we went back to the wharf and were picked up just after 2pm. we saw many birds. i think for sure we saw a kaka, kukupa, and bellbirds. mostly though we saw wekas. i think i heard several tui but i'm still unsure of the respective bird calls.

panorama of west end beach

i just call this one the 'pretzel tree'

after the ulva island trip, we walked up to church hill, which overlooks oban and the wharf, and had some juice at the cafe/bar/restaurant that's up there. after a brief rest, we walked up mapau road to a cemetery by mill creek. then back around halfmoon bay's water edge, past kaka ridge road. we turned around and use the internet at the south sea hotel.

cemetery overlooking mill creek

two of the others staying at the b&b were raving about the george foreman grill and asked if we had them in america. 'well duh, george foreman is american.' i wasn't that rude! just said 'yes'. one of the guests and the guy working at the b&b have never heard of tofu. i've never had to explain what tofu is before. everyone just knows what tofu is. i guess we really are at the bottom of the world.