Kiwi, Kiwi everywhere.

We departed from Small Craft Retreat in a low swell but little wind. A motor of several hours, towing our fishing lure to entertain the fish, saw us arrive at Lords River. The rocky inlet has a navigable river (by dinghy) extending about 5 nautical miles inland. We took a trip up the river on the tide. Very pleasant but little wildlife seen. That night we went ashore to try and see if we could find any Kiwi's. We were pleased to hear 'rustling' in the tall grass. This was followed by a Kiwi jumping
down onto the beach and running straight for Tori. Having passed Tori the Kiwi ran off up the beach into the night.

The following day we decided to move around to Port Adventure. Again we motored in a low swell and little wind. In Port Adventure we anchored in 'Abrahams Bossom', a small cove protected from the swell with lovely sandy beaches. There is also Heron River in this area which extends about 2 miles inland. We explored this by dinghy but saw little wildlife. Once again we headed to the beach at sunset and were rewarded with a couple of Kiwi in the bush/undergrowth close to the beach. We shared the anchorage
with a motor boat from Devonport (about two minutes from our home in Auckland). We have still seen very few recreational boats.

After a couple of days at Port Adventure we have returned to Paterson Inlet. This has allowed to restock on fresh fruit and vege's. A real luxury when we have been three months away from such things! Whilst back in Paterson Inlet we applied for and were granted a DOC permit to visit the Kiwi protection area. Our trip ashore here saw us sitting on the beach just after sunset watching a Kiwi come onto the beach and forage in the sand/kelp for about 20 minutes. We also heard several Kiwi as we returned
along the track to our boat. Tori has been keen to walk the Rakiura Track, a 'three day' tramp. As the three legs are all about 12km (4 to 6 hours)each we (Tori) decided we would do this as a day walk. My little legs still ache, but we had a good time and completed this in just under 8 hours of fast walking.

Weather continues to be a tad windy and wet! We understand from a friend about to depart Dunedin for Fiordland that it has been 31' Celsius up there! Its got to about 6' Celsius here. Our plan is to depart for Bluff this weekend. After we have restocked and completed formalities we will then head south. A small glitch means that while our permit for Auckland/Campbell last till mid March we will have to return to Bluff at the beginning of March. This is because we must have a valid hull inspection
certificate, which is only valid for 28 days from issue. We will most likely speed up our visit to get all the sites visited, or we will visit Auckland Islands only. The nature of the island means that inspections are vital to ensure nothing 'nasty' gets taken down by mistake. We can of course come back and then sail back down again but I imagine we will not be that keen on a second trip south and back.

A quick glimpse at our email and blog (which we cannot see unless we get to a shore side internet) showed a few messages in the inbox/comments, we will reply to all in Bluff when we can get a reliable internet connection. A few photos will also be loaded up provided the connection is fast enough.