While we were on Stewart Island, we visited Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara. It is one of the few pest-free open sanctuaries in New Zealand. To get there, you have to take a water taxi which is very cool and great fun. There are four different tracks you can walk which according to DoC takes around 3 hours if you do all four. Of course, if you are like me and stop every few metres to gaze at the wildlife or trees – a little bit longer! Ulva is teeming with birds. We saw: Kaka, Kereru, Tui, Tomtits, Stewart Island Robins, Parakeets, Weka and Yellowheads. We also saw a sea-lion on the beach just chilling in the sun. On our return walk, it decided it had had enough sun and was shifting to the sea. What a sight! We also spotted some really interesting pale blue fungi. Photos of the birds were tricky so apologies for the quality of some of these and the sea-lion pics are taken from a safe distance so again are a little on the fuzzy side.